Kura Oncology (NASDAQ:KURA) Upgraded to “Hold” at Zacks Research

Zacks Research upgraded shares of Kura Oncology (NASDAQ:KURA) from a strong sell rating to a hold rating in a research report released on Thursday,Zacks.com reports.

Several other analysts have also recently commented on the company. Leerink Partners set a $20.00 price target on Kura Oncology and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 13th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Kura Oncology in a report on Thursday, January 22nd. Barclays restated an “overweight” rating and set a $28.00 target price (up from $11.00) on shares of Kura Oncology in a research report on Monday, November 24th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Kura Oncology from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Sunday, February 22nd. Finally, UBS Group boosted their price objective on shares of Kura Oncology from $14.00 to $16.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, November 14th. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $28.00.

Kura Oncology Stock Performance

Shares of KURA stock traded up $0.08 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $8.73. The stock had a trading volume of 1,257,008 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,395,892. The firm has a market cap of $759.68 million, a PE ratio of -3.52 and a beta of 0.23. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $8.99 and its 200-day simple moving average is $9.33. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.02, a current ratio of 5.12 and a quick ratio of 5.12. Kura Oncology has a fifty-two week low of $5.41 and a fifty-two week high of $12.49.

Insider Buying and Selling at Kura Oncology

In other Kura Oncology news, insider Mollie Leoni sold 8,180 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $8.46, for a total value of $69,202.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 267,274 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,261,138.04. The trade was a 2.97% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Brian T. Powl sold 6,414 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $8.46, for a total transaction of $54,262.44. Following the transaction, the insider owned 183,275 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,550,506.50. The trade was a 3.38% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 59,794 shares of company stock valued at $537,176. 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 bought and sold shares of the business. Rhumbline Advisers grew its stake in Kura Oncology by 0.9% during the third quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 119,935 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,061,000 after buying an additional 1,039 shares during the period. IFP Advisors Inc lifted its holdings in shares of Kura Oncology by 115.3% during the 4th quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 2,398 shares of the company’s stock valued at $25,000 after acquiring an additional 1,284 shares in the last quarter. Royal Bank of Canada boosted its position in Kura Oncology by 7.6% during the 4th quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 19,577 shares of the company’s stock worth $203,000 after purchasing an additional 1,375 shares during the period. Allworth Financial LP increased its holdings in Kura Oncology by 59.9% in the 4th quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 4,146 shares of the company’s stock valued at $43,000 after purchasing an additional 1,553 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Focus Partners Advisor Solutions LLC increased its holdings in Kura Oncology by 7.9% in the 4th quarter. Focus Partners Advisor Solutions LLC now owns 22,889 shares of the company’s stock valued at $238,000 after purchasing an additional 1,682 shares in the last quarter.

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.