259,857 Shares in Kura Oncology, Inc. $KURA Purchased by Great Lakes Advisors LLC

Great Lakes Advisors LLC bought a new position in Kura Oncology, Inc. (NASDAQ:KURA) in the second quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund bought 259,857 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,851,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the stock. IFP Advisors Inc boosted 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 during the last quarter. Allworth Financial LP raised 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 valued at $43,000 after purchasing an additional 1,553 shares during the last quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its position in Kura Oncology by 49.0% during the fourth quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 5,742 shares of the company’s stock valued at $60,000 after purchasing an additional 1,888 shares during the period. Insigneo Advisory Services LLC purchased a new stake in Kura Oncology in the fourth quarter worth approximately $105,000. Finally, LPL Financial LLC bought a new stake in Kura Oncology in the 4th quarter worth approximately $105,000.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, insider Mollie Leoni sold 84,929 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, June 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $9.82, for a total transaction of $834,002.78. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 182,345 shares in the company, valued at $1,790,627.90. This trade represents a 31.78% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Troy Edward Wilson bought 100,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 17th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $11.12 per share, for a total transaction of $1,112,000.00. Following the purchase, the chief executive officer owned 379,194 shares in the company, valued at $4,216,637.28. This represents a 35.82% increase in their position. Additional details regarding this purchase are available in the official SEC disclosure. Corporate insiders own 7.60% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on KURA shares. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Kura Oncology from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, May 16th. Citigroup reaffirmed a “market outperform” rating on shares of Kura Oncology in a report on Thursday, May 28th. Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated an “overweight” rating on shares of Kura Oncology in a research report on Thursday, June 4th. Wells Fargo & Company set a $24.00 target price on Kura Oncology in a report on Thursday, June 4th. Finally, Citizens Jmp restated a “market outperform” rating and set a $24.00 price target on shares of Kura Oncology in a research note on Monday, June 15th. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Kura Oncology has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $25.62.

Kura Oncology Stock Down 6.5%

KURA stock opened at $11.71 on Friday. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $10.48 and its 200-day moving average price is $9.44. The stock has a market cap of $1.04 billion, a P/E ratio of -3.47 and a beta of 0.38. The company has a quick ratio of 4.71, a current ratio of 4.73 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12. Kura Oncology, Inc. has a twelve month low of $6.95 and a twelve month high of $12.90.

Kura Oncology (NASDAQ:KURA) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, August 12th. The company reported ($0.77) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.88) by $0.11. Kura Oncology had a negative net margin of 384.30% and a negative return on equity of 207.18%. The company had revenue of $20.87 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $20.16 million. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Kura Oncology, Inc. will post -3.23 EPS for the current year.

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.