Kura Oncology (NASDAQ:KURA) Stock Rating Lowered by Zacks Research

Kura Oncology (NASDAQ:KURA) was downgraded by equities research analysts at Zacks Research from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a report issued on Tuesday,Zacks.com reports.

Other research analysts also recently issued reports about the stock. JMP Securities reissued a “market outperform” rating and set a $24.00 target price on shares of Kura Oncology in a research report on Monday, October 20th. Leerink Partners set a $20.00 price objective on Kura Oncology and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 13th. Barclays restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $28.00 target price (up from $11.00) on shares of Kura Oncology in a research note on Monday, November 24th. Citigroup reiterated a “market outperform” rating on shares of Kura Oncology in a research note on Friday, December 5th. Finally, Wedbush reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $38.00 price objective (up previously from $36.00) on shares of Kura Oncology in a report on Friday, November 14th. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have given a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $28.00.

Kura Oncology Stock Performance

Kura Oncology stock traded up $0.33 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $9.05. 185,992 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,411,973. The firm has a market capitalization of $787.53 million, a PE ratio of -3.64 and a beta of 0.25. The company has a quick ratio of 5.12, a current ratio of 5.12 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.02. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $10.51 and its 200 day simple moving average is $8.96. Kura Oncology has a one year low of $5.41 and a one year high of $12.49.

Kura Oncology (NASDAQ:KURA) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, November 4th. The company reported ($0.85) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.57) by ($0.28). The business had revenue of $20.75 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $17.48 million. Kura Oncology had a negative net margin of 208.48% and a negative return on equity of 65.42%. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Kura Oncology will post -2.44 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity at Kura Oncology

In related news, insider Francis Burrows sold 23,726 shares of Kura Oncology stock in a transaction on Thursday, December 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $9.78, for a total value of $232,040.28. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 33,735 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $329,928.30. The trade was a 41.29% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, insider Mollie Leoni sold 15,485 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, November 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $11.18, for a total transaction of $173,122.30. Following the sale, the insider owned 225,454 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,520,575.72. This represents a 6.43% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold 68,343 shares of company stock valued at $730,858 in the last ninety days. 6.40% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Kura Oncology

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. EcoR1 Capital LLC increased its holdings in Kura Oncology by 59.1% during the 2nd quarter. EcoR1 Capital LLC now owns 4,200,000 shares of the company’s stock valued at $24,234,000 after purchasing an additional 1,559,702 shares during the period. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Kura Oncology by 101.6% during the third quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. now owns 2,224,590 shares of the company’s stock valued at $19,688,000 after buying an additional 1,121,228 shares during the period. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd raised its stake in Kura Oncology by 63.0% in the second quarter. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd now owns 1,911,886 shares of the company’s stock worth $11,032,000 after buying an additional 738,761 shares in the last quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in Kura Oncology by 163.6% in the second quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 870,903 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,022,000 after buying an additional 540,482 shares during the period. Finally, Sector Gamma AS bought a new position in shares of Kura Oncology in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $3,880,000.

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.