Kura Oncology (NASDAQ:KURA) Trading 6.7% Higher – Still a Buy?

Kura Oncology, Inc. (NASDAQ:KURA)’s share price rose 6.7% during mid-day trading on Monday . The company traded as high as $8.40 and last traded at $8.44. Approximately 1,697,523 shares were traded during mid-day trading, an increase of 14% from the average daily volume of 1,487,299 shares. The stock had previously closed at $7.91.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have recently issued reports on KURA. Stifel Nicolaus cut Kura Oncology from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and lowered their price objective for the stock from $26.00 to $19.00 in a research report on Monday, October 14th. Scotiabank lowered their price objective on Kura Oncology from $18.00 to $10.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated an “overweight” rating on shares of Kura Oncology in a research report on Monday, December 9th. JMP Securities reaffirmed a “market outperform” rating and issued a $32.00 target price on shares of Kura Oncology in a research note on Tuesday, November 19th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group decreased their price target on shares of Kura Oncology from $32.00 to $28.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, November 21st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $27.38.

Kura Oncology Stock Performance

The stock has a 50-day moving average of $8.83 and a 200 day moving average of $15.16. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.02, a quick ratio of 11.47 and a current ratio of 11.47. The firm has a market capitalization of $703.73 million, a P/E ratio of -3.83 and a beta of 0.78.

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

Insider Buying and Selling at Kura Oncology

In other news, insider Mollie Leoni sold 4,963 shares of Kura Oncology stock in a transaction on 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 sale, the insider now owns 88,253 shares in the company, valued at $694,551.11. The trade was a 5.32 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, 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 transaction of $38,948.63. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 88,193 shares of the company’s stock, 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 have sold a total of 12,255 shares of company stock worth $100,739 over the last ninety days. Insiders own 5.50% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Kura Oncology

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Moody Aldrich Partners LLC boosted its stake in Kura Oncology by 42.3% during the fourth quarter. Moody Aldrich Partners LLC now owns 143,587 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,251,000 after buying an additional 42,712 shares during the period. SG Americas Securities LLC purchased a new position in Kura Oncology during the fourth quarter valued at $436,000. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Kura Oncology by 4.4% in the fourth quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 49,371 shares of the company’s stock worth $430,000 after buying an additional 2,076 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its position in Kura Oncology by 0.8% in the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 409,241 shares of the company’s stock worth $7,997,000 after acquiring an additional 3,092 shares in the last quarter. Finally, AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in Kura Oncology by 251.5% during the 2nd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 81,655 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,681,000 after acquiring an additional 58,422 shares during the period.

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.