Kura Oncology (NASDAQ:KURA) Stock Price Up 6.7% – Here’s Why

Shares of Kura Oncology, Inc. (NASDAQ:KURA) rose 6.7% during mid-day trading on Monday . The stock traded as high as $8.40 and last traded at $8.44. Approximately 1,697,523 shares traded hands 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 Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts recently commented on the company. Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated an “overweight” rating on shares of Kura Oncology in a report on Monday, December 9th. JMP Securities reissued a “market outperform” rating and issued a $32.00 price target on shares of Kura Oncology in a report on Tuesday, November 19th. Jefferies Financial Group reduced their price target on shares of Kura Oncology from $32.00 to $28.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, November 21st. Lifesci Capital raised shares of Kura Oncology to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Finally, HC Wainwright increased their target price on shares of Kura Oncology from $32.00 to $37.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 21st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $27.38.

Kura Oncology Stock Performance

The stock has a market capitalization of $641.52 million, a P/E ratio of -3.50 and a beta of 0.78. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $8.97 and its 200 day simple moving average is $15.38. The company has a current ratio of 11.47, a quick ratio of 11.47 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.02.

Kura Oncology (NASDAQ:KURA) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, November 7th. The company reported ($0.63) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.64) by $0.01. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned ($0.50) earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Kura Oncology, Inc. will post -2.44 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, SVP Thomas James Doyle sold 4,949 shares of the stock in a transaction on 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 $694,078.91. This trade represents a 5.31 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Mollie Leoni sold 4,963 shares of Kura Oncology stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $7.87, for a total transaction of $39,058.81. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 88,253 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $694,551.11. This represents a 5.32 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 12,255 shares of company stock worth $100,739. 5.50% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Kura Oncology

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. nVerses Capital LLC bought a new stake in Kura Oncology during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $25,000. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. lifted its stake in shares of Kura Oncology by 11.9% during the 4th quarter. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 16,489 shares of the company’s stock valued at $144,000 after buying an additional 1,750 shares in the last quarter. Rhumbline Advisers boosted its holdings in Kura Oncology by 2.0% in the 4th quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 99,991 shares of the company’s stock worth $871,000 after buying an additional 1,923 shares during the period. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company increased its stake in Kura Oncology by 5.4% in the 2nd quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 38,536 shares of the company’s stock worth $793,000 after buying an additional 1,976 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. boosted its stake 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 acquiring an additional 2,076 shares during the period.

About Kura Oncology

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.