Kura Oncology (NASDAQ:KURA) Trading 7.9% Higher – Here’s What Happened

Kura Oncology, Inc. (NASDAQ:KURA)’s share price rose 7.9% during trading on Wednesday . The company traded as high as $9.49 and last traded at $9.6660. Approximately 1,227,656 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 14% from the average daily volume of 1,420,780 shares. The stock had previously closed at $8.96.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

KURA has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Wall Street Zen upgraded Kura Oncology from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday. Zacks Research upgraded Kura Oncology from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 26th. UBS Group reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $15.00 price target (down from $16.00) on shares of Kura Oncology in a research note on Friday, March 13th. Wedbush decreased their price target on Kura Oncology from $38.00 to $36.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, March 6th. Finally, Lake Street Capital initiated coverage on Kura Oncology in a research note on Tuesday, April 14th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $23.00 price target on the stock. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Kura Oncology currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $26.38.

Kura Oncology Price Performance

The firm has a market cap of $887.83 million, a P/E ratio of -2.99 and a beta of 0.32. The company has a current ratio of 6.15, a quick ratio of 6.14 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09. The business has a 50-day moving average of $8.91 and a two-hundred day moving average of $9.44.

Kura Oncology (NASDAQ:KURA) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, May 12th. The company reported ($0.83) earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.88) by $0.05. The business had revenue of $18.27 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $25.97 million. Kura Oncology had a negative return on equity of 141.95% and a negative net margin of 411.19%. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Kura Oncology, Inc. will post -3.23 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of KURA. Sector Gamma AS acquired a new position in shares of Kura Oncology in the 3rd quarter valued at about $3,880,000. Nan Fung Trinity HK Ltd. acquired a new position in shares of Kura Oncology in the 3rd quarter valued at about $2,043,000. SG Americas Securities LLC lifted its stake in shares of Kura Oncology by 214.1% in the 4th quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 151,715 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,576,000 after purchasing an additional 103,411 shares during the period. UBS Group AG lifted its stake in shares of Kura Oncology by 118.3% in the 4th quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 1,060,025 shares of the company’s stock valued at $11,014,000 after purchasing an additional 574,455 shares during the period. Finally, Rhenman & Partners Asset Management AB lifted its stake in shares of Kura Oncology by 96.0% in the 3rd quarter. Rhenman & Partners Asset Management AB now owns 490,000 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,336,000 after purchasing an additional 240,000 shares during the period.

About Kura Oncology

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.