Kura Oncology (NASDAQ:KURA) Trading Up 6.2% – Should You Buy?

Shares of Kura Oncology, Inc. (NASDAQ:KURA) rose 6.2% during trading on Tuesday . The company traded as high as $11.67 and last traded at $11.7250. Approximately 966,359 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 40% from the average session volume of 1,598,565 shares. The stock had previously closed at $11.04.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on KURA shares. Sanford C. Bernstein set a $24.00 price target on shares of Kura Oncology in a research note on Monday, June 15th. Weiss Ratings restated a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Kura Oncology in a research note on Tuesday, April 21st. Lake Street Capital began coverage on Kura Oncology in a report on Tuesday, April 14th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $23.00 target price on the stock. UBS Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $15.00 target price (down from $16.00) on shares of Kura Oncology in a report on Friday, March 13th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company set a $24.00 target price on Kura Oncology in a research report on Thursday, June 4th. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $25.46.

Kura Oncology Stock Up 6.8%

The company has a market capitalization of $1.05 billion, a PE ratio of -3.52 and a beta of 0.35. The company’s fifty day moving average is $9.76 and its 200-day moving average is $9.21. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09, a quick ratio of 6.14 and a current ratio of 6.15.

Kura Oncology (NASDAQ:KURA) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, May 12th. The company reported ($0.83) earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.88) by $0.05. The business had revenue of $18.27 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $25.97 million. Kura Oncology had a negative net margin of 411.19% and a negative return on equity of 141.95%. As a group, analysts predict that Kura Oncology, Inc. will post -3.45 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Kura Oncology

In related news, insider Mollie Leoni sold 84,929 shares of Kura Oncology stock in a transaction on Thursday, June 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $9.82, for a total transaction of $834,002.78. Following the transaction, the insider owned 182,345 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,790,627.90. The trade was a 31.78% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. 7.60% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Kura Oncology

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. IFP Advisors Inc raised its holdings in Kura Oncology by 115.3% during the fourth quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 2,398 shares of the company’s stock valued at $25,000 after acquiring an additional 1,284 shares during the period. Allworth Financial LP boosted its stake in shares of Kura Oncology by 59.9% in the fourth quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 4,146 shares of the company’s stock worth $43,000 after acquiring an additional 1,553 shares during the period. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Kura Oncology by 49.0% in the fourth quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 5,742 shares of the company’s stock worth $60,000 after acquiring an additional 1,888 shares during the period. Insigneo Advisory Services LLC bought a new position in shares of Kura Oncology in the fourth quarter worth about $105,000. Finally, LPL Financial LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Kura Oncology during the fourth quarter worth about $105,000.

Kura Oncology Company Profile

Kura Oncology, Inc (NASDAQ: KURA) is a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company focused on the discovery and development of targeted oncology therapies. Headquartered in La Jolla, California, the company leverages expertise in molecular biology and precision medicine to identify key drivers of cancer growth and design small-molecule inhibitors that block those pathways. Kura’s research platform integrates genomic insights with medicinal chemistry to advance candidates against well-validated targets in solid tumors and hematologic malignancies.

The company’s lead clinical candidate, tipifarnib, is a farnesyltransferase inhibitor being evaluated for the treatment of HRAS-mutant head and neck squamous cell carcinoma and various non-small cell lung cancers.