Assenagon Asset Management S.A. Sells 805,304 Shares of Kura Oncology, Inc. $KURA

Assenagon Asset Management S.A. trimmed its position in Kura Oncology, Inc. (NASDAQ:KURA) by 70.3% during the 1st quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 339,712 shares of the company’s stock after selling 805,304 shares during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A.’s holdings in Kura Oncology were worth $2,762,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Virtu Financial LLC purchased a new position in shares of Kura Oncology during the 4th quarter worth $349,000. Invesco Ltd. raised its holdings in Kura Oncology by 14.6% in the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 209,370 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,175,000 after purchasing an additional 26,683 shares during the period. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV lifted its position in Kura Oncology by 52.3% during the fourth quarter. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV now owns 50,080 shares of the company’s stock valued at $520,000 after purchasing an additional 17,197 shares in the last quarter. Voloridge Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in Kura Oncology during the fourth quarter valued at $2,505,000. Finally, Virtus Investment Advisers LLC lifted its position in Kura Oncology by 291.4% during the fourth quarter. Virtus Investment Advisers LLC now owns 66,870 shares of the company’s stock valued at $695,000 after purchasing an additional 49,785 shares in the last quarter.

Kura Oncology Price Performance

NASDAQ KURA opened at $10.97 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09, a quick ratio of 6.14 and a current ratio of 6.15. The company has a market capitalization of $973.81 million, a P/E ratio of -3.27 and a beta of 0.36. Kura Oncology, Inc. has a one year low of $5.45 and a one year high of $12.49. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $9.64 and a 200-day moving average price of $9.19.

Kura Oncology (NASDAQ:KURA) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, May 12th. The company reported ($0.83) earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.88) by $0.05. The company had revenue of $18.27 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations 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, equities analysts predict that Kura Oncology, Inc. will post -3.45 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Kura Oncology

In other Kura Oncology 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 value of $834,002.78. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 182,345 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,790,627.90. This trade represents a 31.78% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. 7.60% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have commented on the company. UBS Group restated a “buy” rating and issued a $15.00 price target (down from $16.00) on shares of Kura Oncology in a research report on Friday, March 13th. Wall Street Zen upgraded Kura Oncology from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, May 16th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Kura Oncology in a report on Tuesday, April 21st. CLSA set a $24.00 target price on shares of Kura Oncology in a research note on Thursday, June 4th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company set a $24.00 price target on shares of Kura Oncology in a report on Thursday, June 4th. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $25.46.

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.