Kura Oncology, Inc. (NASDAQ:KURA) Given Consensus Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by Analysts

Kura Oncology, Inc. (NASDAQ:KURA) has been assigned an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the twelve brokerages that are currently covering the company, Marketbeat Ratings reports. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, two have given a hold recommendation and nine have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1-year price objective among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $26.8571.

Several analysts recently weighed in on the company. Citigroup restated a “market outperform” rating on shares of Kura Oncology in a research note on Friday, December 5th. HC Wainwright reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $40.00 price objective on shares of Kura Oncology in a research note on Tuesday, January 13th. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Kura Oncology from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 26th. Wedbush cut their price objective on shares of Kura Oncology from $38.00 to $36.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, March 6th. Finally, Mizuho reduced their price objective on shares of Kura Oncology from $30.00 to $25.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday.

Insider Activity

In other news, SVP Thomas James Doyle sold 7,142 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $8.46, for a total transaction of $60,421.32. Following the sale, the senior vice president owned 145,167 shares in the company, valued at $1,228,112.82. This represents a 4.69% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Brian T. Powl sold 6,414 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $8.46, for a total transaction of $54,262.44. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 183,275 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,550,506.50. This trade represents a 3.38% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 36,068 shares of company stock worth $305,135. Corporate insiders own 6.40% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Kura Oncology

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. IFP Advisors Inc raised its stake in shares of Kura Oncology by 115.3% in the fourth quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 2,398 shares of the company’s stock worth $25,000 after purchasing an additional 1,284 shares during the last quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Kura Oncology by 392.8% during the third quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 3,854 shares of the company’s stock valued at $34,000 after buying an additional 3,072 shares during the last quarter. Allworth Financial LP boosted its position in shares of Kura Oncology by 59.9% during the fourth quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 4,146 shares of the company’s stock valued at $43,000 after buying an additional 1,553 shares during the last quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. increased its holdings in Kura Oncology by 127.2% in the 3rd quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 6,732 shares of the company’s stock worth $60,000 after buying an additional 3,769 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Tower Research Capital LLC TRC increased its holdings in Kura Oncology by 471.3% in the 2nd quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 12,071 shares of the company’s stock worth $70,000 after buying an additional 9,958 shares in the last quarter.

Kura Oncology Trading Down 3.0%

NASDAQ:KURA opened at $8.07 on Wednesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $712.82 million, a P/E ratio of -2.54 and a beta of 0.22. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06, a current ratio of 6.06 and a quick ratio of 6.05. Kura Oncology has a one year low of $5.41 and a one year high of $12.49. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $8.47 and its 200 day simple moving average is $9.49.

Kura Oncology (NASDAQ:KURA) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, March 5th. The company reported ($0.92) earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.72) by ($0.20). Kura Oncology had a negative net margin of 412.95% and a negative return on equity of 102.59%. The business had revenue of $17.34 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $34.71 million. As a group, analysts forecast that Kura Oncology will post -2.44 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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.