Kura Oncology (NASDAQ:KURA) Upgraded to Buy at StockNews.com

StockNews.com upgraded shares of Kura Oncology (NASDAQ:KURA) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a research note released on Friday morning.

KURA has been the subject of a number of other research reports. Scotiabank cut their price objective on shares of Kura Oncology from $18.00 to $10.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. UBS Group decreased their price objective on Kura Oncology from $27.00 to $14.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, March 6th. HC Wainwright reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $40.00 target price on shares of Kura Oncology in a research note on Thursday, February 27th. BTIG Research lowered Kura Oncology from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, Wedbush reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $36.00 price objective on shares of Kura Oncology in a research note on Thursday, February 27th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Kura Oncology has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $25.50.

Kura Oncology Price Performance

KURA stock opened at $5.89 on Friday. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $7.68 and its 200 day moving average price is $11.57. The firm has a market cap of $475.65 million, a P/E ratio of -2.50 and a beta of 0.83. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.02, a quick ratio of 11.47 and a current ratio of 11.47. Kura Oncology has a 1 year low of $5.82 and a 1 year high of $23.48.

Kura Oncology (NASDAQ:KURA) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 26th. The company reported ($0.22) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.65) by $0.43. The company had revenue of $53.88 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $57.96 million. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Kura Oncology will post -2.44 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Mollie Leoni sold 4,963 shares of the company’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 $39,058.81. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 88,253 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $694,551.11. This represents a 5.32 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, SVP Thomas James Doyle sold 4,949 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $7.87, for a total value of $38,948.63. Following the sale, 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 11,729 shares of company stock worth $92,307 over the last ninety days. 5.50% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in KURA. Virtus ETF Advisers LLC lifted its holdings in Kura Oncology by 71.6% in the 4th quarter. Virtus ETF Advisers LLC now owns 7,336 shares of the company’s stock worth $64,000 after buying an additional 3,061 shares in the last quarter. Harbor Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Kura Oncology during the fourth quarter valued at about $87,000. E Fund Management Co. Ltd. purchased a new stake in shares of Kura Oncology during the fourth quarter worth about $90,000. Corton Capital Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Kura Oncology in the fourth quarter worth about $99,000. Finally, Optimize Financial Inc purchased a new position in Kura Oncology in the fourth quarter valued at about $100,000.

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.