Kura Oncology (NASDAQ:KURA) Trading Up 4.1% – Here’s What Happened

Kura Oncology, Inc. (NASDAQ:KURA)’s share price shot up 4.1% during mid-day trading on Thursday . The stock traded as high as $7.47 and last traded at $7.57. 30,728 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 97% from the average session volume of 1,051,821 shares. The stock had previously closed at $7.27.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have recently weighed in on KURA. Scotiabank cut their price objective on Kura Oncology from $18.00 to $10.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. Bank of America dropped their target price on shares of Kura Oncology from $36.00 to $29.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, November 22nd. Wedbush reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $36.00 price target on shares of Kura Oncology in a report on Thursday, February 27th. HC Wainwright restated a “buy” rating and set a $40.00 price objective on shares of Kura Oncology in a report on Thursday, February 27th. Finally, StockNews.com cut shares of Kura Oncology from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Kura Oncology presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $25.50.

Kura Oncology Trading Down 0.1 %

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.02, a current ratio of 11.47 and a quick ratio of 11.47. The business’s 50-day moving average is $7.82 and its two-hundred day moving average is $12.49. The firm has a market cap of $633.12 million, a P/E ratio of -3.32 and a beta of 0.85.

Kura Oncology (NASDAQ:KURA) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, February 26th. The company reported ($0.22) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.65) by $0.43. The company had revenue of $53.88 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $57.96 million. As a group, analysts predict that Kura Oncology, Inc. will post -2.44 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Kura Oncology

In other news, SVP Thomas James Doyle sold 4,949 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $7.87, for a total value of $38,948.63. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 88,193 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $694,078.91. This represents a 5.31 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Mollie Leoni sold 4,963 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $7.87, for a total value of $39,058.81. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 88,253 shares in the company, valued at approximately $694,551.11. This trade represents a 5.32 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 11,729 shares of company stock worth $92,307 in the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 5.50% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Kura Oncology

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. RA Capital Management L.P. bought a new position in Kura Oncology during the fourth quarter worth $38,769,000. Millennium Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Kura Oncology by 180.1% during the 4th quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 2,367,148 shares of the company’s stock worth $20,618,000 after buying an additional 1,521,954 shares during the last quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Kura Oncology during the 4th quarter worth about $8,518,000. Marshall Wace LLP acquired a new position in Kura Oncology in the 4th quarter valued at about $8,265,000. Finally, D. E. Shaw & Co. Inc. raised its holdings in Kura Oncology by 172.0% in the 4th quarter. D. E. Shaw & Co. Inc. now owns 1,151,195 shares of the company’s stock valued at $10,027,000 after acquiring an additional 727,987 shares during the period.

About Kura Oncology

Kura Oncology, Inc, a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company, develops medicines for the treatment of cancer. The company’s pipeline consists of small molecule product candidates that target cancer. Its lead product candidates are ziftomenib, an orally bioavailable small molecule inhibitor of the menin-KMT2A interaction for the treatment of genetically defined subsets of acute leukemias, including acute myeloid leukemia and acute lymphoblastic leukemia; tipifarnib, an orally bioavailable farnesyl transferase inhibitor combination with alpelisib for patients with PIK3CA-dependent HNSCC; and KO-2806, a farnesyl transferase inhibitor for the treatment of solid tumors.