Mizuho Cuts Kura Oncology (NASDAQ:KURA) Price Target to $25.00

Kura Oncology (NASDAQ:KURA) had its target price dropped by Mizuho from $30.00 to $25.00 in a research note issued to investors on Tuesday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has an “outperform” rating on the stock. Mizuho’s target price would suggest a potential upside of 212.50% from the stock’s current price.

Other equities research analysts have also recently issued reports about the stock. Wedbush decreased their price objective on shares of Kura Oncology from $38.00 to $36.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, March 6th. UBS Group reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $15.00 price target (down from $16.00) on shares of Kura Oncology in a research note on Friday, March 13th. Barclays reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $28.00 price objective (up from $11.00) on shares of Kura Oncology in a research note on Monday, November 24th. Citigroup restated a “market outperform” rating on shares of Kura Oncology in a research note on Friday, December 5th. Finally, Leerink Partners set a $20.00 target price on shares of Kura Oncology and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 13th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $26.86.

Kura Oncology Stock Down 3.8%

NASDAQ KURA traded down $0.32 on Tuesday, reaching $8.00. The stock had a trading volume of 512,009 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,468,971. The company has a current ratio of 6.06, a quick ratio of 6.05 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06. Kura Oncology has a 1 year low of $5.41 and a 1 year high of $12.49. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $8.49 and a 200 day moving average price of $9.49. The company has a market capitalization of $706.64 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -2.52 and a beta of 0.22.

Kura Oncology (NASDAQ:KURA) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, March 5th. The company reported ($0.92) earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.72) by ($0.20). The firm had revenue of $17.34 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $34.71 million. Kura Oncology had a negative return on equity of 102.59% and a negative net margin of 412.95%. On average, analysts forecast that Kura Oncology will post -2.44 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Kura Oncology

In related news, insider Teresa Brophy Bair sold 11,208 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $8.46, for a total transaction of $94,819.68. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 226,931 shares in the company, valued at $1,919,836.26. This represents a 4.71% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, SVP Thomas James Doyle sold 7,142 shares of Kura Oncology stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $8.46, for a total value of $60,421.32. Following the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 145,167 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,228,112.82. This trade represents a 4.69% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold 36,068 shares of company stock valued at $305,135 in the last 90 days. 6.40% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Rhumbline Advisers grew its holdings in shares of Kura Oncology by 0.9% in the 3rd quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 119,935 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,061,000 after purchasing an additional 1,039 shares during the last quarter. IFP Advisors Inc boosted its position in Kura Oncology by 115.3% in the fourth quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 2,398 shares of the company’s stock valued at $25,000 after buying an additional 1,284 shares in the last quarter. Royal Bank of Canada grew its stake in Kura Oncology by 7.6% during the fourth quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 19,577 shares of the company’s stock worth $203,000 after buying an additional 1,375 shares during the last quarter. Allworth Financial LP increased its holdings in shares of Kura Oncology by 59.9% during the fourth quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 4,146 shares of the company’s stock worth $43,000 after buying an additional 1,553 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Focus Partners Advisor Solutions LLC increased its holdings in shares of Kura Oncology by 7.9% during the fourth quarter. Focus Partners Advisor Solutions LLC now owns 22,889 shares of the company’s stock worth $238,000 after buying an additional 1,682 shares in the last quarter.

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.