Kura Oncology (NASDAQ:KURA) Shares Climb 4.2% – What’s Next?

Kura Oncology, Inc. (NASDAQ:KURA) shares were up 4.2% during trading on Wednesday. The stock traded as high as $10.97 and last traded at $10.97. Approximately 376,341 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 77% from the average session volume of 1,669,015 shares. The stock had previously closed at $10.53.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on KURA shares. Citizens Jmp reiterated a “market outperform” rating and set a $24.00 target price on shares of Kura Oncology in a research report on Monday, August 24th. Sanford C. Bernstein set a $24.00 price target on shares of Kura Oncology in a report on Monday, June 15th. Morgan Stanley set a $24.00 price objective on shares of Kura Oncology in a research report on Monday, August 24th. Wedbush upped their price objective on shares of Kura Oncology from $36.00 to $38.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 13th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. started coverage on shares of Kura Oncology in a report on Thursday, October 1st. They set an “overweight” rating and a $30.00 price objective on the stock. Eleven analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Kura Oncology has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $25.69.

Kura Oncology Stock Performance

The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $11.26 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $10.23. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12, a quick ratio of 4.71 and a current ratio of 4.73. The stock has a market cap of $957.48 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -3.20 and a beta of 0.47.

Kura Oncology (NASDAQ:KURA) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 12th. The company reported ($0.77) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.88) by $0.11. The business had revenue of $20.87 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $20.16 million. Kura Oncology had a negative net margin of 384.30% and a negative return on equity of 207.18%. On average, analysts expect that Kura Oncology, Inc. will post -3.25 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Kura Oncology

In other news, insider Francis Burrows sold 20,726 shares of Kura Oncology stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $10.83, for a total value of $224,462.58. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 42,327 shares in the company, valued at approximately $458,401.41. This trade represents a 32.87% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Brian Powl sold 17,020 shares of Kura Oncology stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $10.53, for a total transaction of $179,220.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 152,249 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,603,181.97. This represents a 10.06% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold a total of 153,881 shares of company stock valued at $1,708,183 in the last 90 days. Insiders own 7.60% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Kura Oncology

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. BlackRock Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Kura Oncology in the second quarter worth $115,286,000. Bank of America Corp DE bought a new position in Kura Oncology in the 2nd quarter worth $12,735,000. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. bought a new position in Kura Oncology in the 2nd quarter worth $10,927,000. Man Group plc acquired a new position in Kura Oncology during the 2nd quarter worth $4,749,000. Finally, Pale Fire Capital SE boosted its holdings in Kura Oncology by 89.6% during the first quarter. Pale Fire Capital SE now owns 857,474 shares of the company’s stock valued at $6,971,000 after acquiring an additional 405,229 shares during the period.

Kura Oncology Company Profile

Kura Oncology, Inc is a biopharmaceutical company focused on developing precision medicines for the treatment of cancer. The company uses molecular and genomic insights to identify therapies designed to target specific biological drivers of tumor growth.

Kura’s lead program is ziftomenib, an oral menin inhibitor developed for genetically defined forms of acute myeloid leukemia, including disease associated with NPM1 mutations and KMT2A rearrangements. The company has also evaluated additional targeted oncology candidates, including therapies directed at the RAF-MEK-ERK signaling pathway.

Founded in 2014 and headquartered in San Diego, California, Kura has conducted clinical development activities through research collaborations and studies involving patients and institutions in the United States and other regions.