Kura Oncology (NASDAQ:KURA) Lowered to “Neutral” Rating by BTIG Research

BTIG Research cut shares of Kura Oncology (NASDAQ:KURA) from a buy rating to a neutral rating in a research note published on Thursday, MarketBeat.com reports.

A number of other analysts have also issued reports on the company. HC Wainwright raised their price target on Kura Oncology from $37.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday. JMP Securities reissued a “market outperform” rating and issued a $32.00 target price on shares of Kura Oncology in a research report on Tuesday, November 19th. Lifesci Capital upgraded shares of Kura Oncology to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an “overweight” rating on shares of Kura Oncology in a research note on Monday, December 9th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus cut shares of Kura Oncology from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and lowered their price objective for the company from $26.00 to $19.00 in a research note on Monday, October 14th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Kura Oncology currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $27.13.

Kura Oncology Stock Performance

NASDAQ:KURA opened at $8.82 on Thursday. 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 firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $8.79 and a 200-day simple moving average of $15.11. Kura Oncology has a 1-year low of $6.98 and a 1-year high of $24.17.

Kura Oncology (NASDAQ:KURA) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, November 7th. The company reported ($0.63) earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.64) by $0.01. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted ($0.50) EPS. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Kura Oncology will post -2.44 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, SVP Thomas James Doyle sold 4,949 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $7.87, for a total value of $38,948.63. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 88,193 shares in the company, valued at approximately $694,078.91. The trade was a 5.31 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Mollie Leoni sold 4,963 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $7.87, for a total value of $39,058.81. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 88,253 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $694,551.11. This represents a 5.32 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 12,255 shares of company stock valued at $100,739. Corporate insiders own 5.50% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Kura Oncology

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in KURA. Suvretta Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Kura Oncology by 8.2% in the third quarter. Suvretta Capital Management LLC now owns 7,652,782 shares of the company’s stock worth $149,535,000 after buying an additional 583,155 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Kura Oncology by 2.4% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,780,509 shares of the company’s stock valued at $34,798,000 after purchasing an additional 41,535 shares in the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. grew its stake in Kura Oncology by 1.5% in the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 1,588,401 shares of the company’s stock worth $28,687,000 after purchasing an additional 23,113 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its stake in Kura Oncology by 1.7% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 635,494 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,535,000 after buying an additional 10,542 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Alethea Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of Kura Oncology by 108.2% in the 3rd quarter. Alethea Capital Management LLC now owns 553,542 shares of the company’s stock worth $10,816,000 after acquiring an additional 287,636 shares in the last quarter.

Kura Oncology Company Profile

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.