Kura Oncology (NASDAQ:KURA) Hits New 1-Year Low – What’s Next?

Kura Oncology, Inc. (NASDAQ:KURA) shares reached a new 52-week low during mid-day trading on Thursday. The stock traded as low as $7.17 and last traded at $7.2270, with a volume of 609,922 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $7.61.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts recently issued reports on KURA shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. started coverage on shares of Kura Oncology in a report on Thursday, October 1st. They set an “overweight” rating and a $30.00 price target on the stock. Citigroup reiterated a “market outperform” rating on shares of Kura Oncology in a research report on Wednesday, October 14th. Morgan Stanley set a $24.00 price objective on shares of Kura Oncology in a research report on Monday, August 24th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft set a $24.00 target price on shares of Kura Oncology in a research note on Wednesday, October 14th. Finally, Weiss Ratings restated a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Kura Oncology in a research report on Thursday, October 15th. Eleven analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Kura Oncology currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $25.35.

Kura Oncology Trading Up 6.9%

The stock has a market capitalization of $646.74 million, a PE ratio of -2.16 and a beta of 0.56. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $10.70 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $9.79. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12, a current ratio of 4.73 and a quick ratio of 4.71.

Kura Oncology (NASDAQ:KURA) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 12th. The company reported ($0.77) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.88) by $0.11. Kura Oncology had a negative return on equity of 207.18% and a negative net margin of 384.30%. The business had revenue of $20.87 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $20.16 million. As a group, analysts expect that Kura Oncology, Inc. will post -3.25 earnings per share for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, SVP Thomas Doyle sold 4,607 shares of Kura Oncology stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $10.50, for a total transaction of $48,373.50. Following the sale, the senior vice president owned 142,428 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,495,494. The trade was a 3.13% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Brian Powl sold 15,430 shares of Kura Oncology stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $10.75, for a total value of $165,872.50. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 136,819 shares in the company, valued at $1,470,804.25. This represents a 10.13% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 153,881 shares of company stock worth $1,708,183. 7.60% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Kura Oncology

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. BlackRock Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Kura Oncology during the second quarter worth $115,286,000. Bank of America Corp DE purchased a new position in shares of Kura Oncology during the second quarter worth about $12,735,000. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its holdings in shares of Kura Oncology by 32.3% in the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,425,945 shares of the company’s stock valued at $11,591,000 after acquiring an additional 348,127 shares during the period. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. acquired a new stake in shares of Kura Oncology during the second quarter worth about $10,927,000. Finally, Aberdeen Group plc acquired a new position in shares of Kura Oncology in the third quarter valued at approximately $8,443,000.

About Kura Oncology

Kura Oncology, Inc (NASDAQ: KURA) is a biopharmaceutical company focused on developing precision medicines for the treatment of cancer. The company’s research programs target genetic and molecular drivers of malignancies, with the goal of developing therapies for patients with limited treatment options.

Kura’s lead product candidate has been ziftomenib, an oral, selective menin inhibitor being developed for genetically defined forms of acute myeloid leukemia (AML), including AML associated with NPM1 mutations and KMT2A rearrangements.