Kura Oncology (NASDAQ:KURA) Sees Unusually-High Trading Volume After Analyst Upgrade

Kura Oncology, Inc. (NASDAQ:KURA) shares saw unusually-strong trading volume on Friday after UBS Group raised their price target on the stock from $14.00 to $16.00. UBS Group currently has a buy rating on the stock. Approximately 2,223,966 shares changed hands during trading, an increase of 41% from the previous session’s volume of 1,575,466 shares.The stock last traded at $12.3630 and had previously closed at $10.68.

KURA has been the subject of several other reports. Weiss Ratings restated a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Kura Oncology in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. HC Wainwright restated a “buy” rating and issued a $40.00 price target on shares of Kura Oncology in a research note on Friday. Zacks Research raised Kura Oncology from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 5th. JMP Securities reissued a “market outperform” rating and set a $24.00 target price on shares of Kura Oncology in a report on Monday, October 20th. Finally, Guggenheim began coverage on shares of Kura Oncology in a research note on Thursday, September 4th. They issued a “neutral” rating on the stock. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $25.11.

Insider Buying and Selling at Kura Oncology

In other news, COO Kathleen Ford sold 6,892 shares of Kura Oncology stock in a transaction on Monday, September 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $8.94, for a total value of $61,614.48. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer owned 63,375 shares in the company, valued at approximately $566,572.50. This trade represents a 9.81% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Troy Edward Wilson sold 36,615 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, September 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $8.94, for a total value of $327,338.10. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 246,853 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,206,865.82. This trade represents a 12.92% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold a total of 78,058 shares of company stock worth $697,839 in the last three months. Company insiders own 6.40% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Kura Oncology

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in KURA. Cerity Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Kura Oncology during the first quarter valued at about $210,000. CWM LLC lifted its holdings in Kura Oncology by 892.8% in the first quarter. CWM LLC now owns 28,353 shares of the company’s stock valued at $187,000 after buying an additional 25,497 shares during the period. Jennison Associates LLC boosted its position in Kura Oncology by 93.8% during the first quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 138,532 shares of the company’s stock valued at $914,000 after acquiring an additional 67,035 shares during the last quarter. 1492 Capital Management LLC boosted its position in Kura Oncology by 25.4% during the first quarter. 1492 Capital Management LLC now owns 429,746 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,836,000 after acquiring an additional 87,148 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank raised its position in shares of Kura Oncology by 23.1% in the 1st quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 32,784 shares of the company’s stock worth $216,000 after acquiring an additional 6,154 shares in the last quarter.

Kura Oncology Price Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.02, a quick ratio of 5.12 and a current ratio of 5.12. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $9.40 and a 200-day moving average price of $7.44. The company has a market capitalization of $1.06 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -4.89 and a beta of 0.35.

Kura Oncology (NASDAQ:KURA) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, November 4th. The company reported ($0.85) earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.57) by ($0.28). The company had revenue of $20.75 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $17.48 million. Kura Oncology had a negative net margin of 208.48% and a negative return on equity of 65.42%. Research analysts predict that Kura Oncology, Inc. will post -2.44 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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.