Candriam S.C.A. Cuts Position in Kura Oncology, Inc. (NASDAQ:KURA)

Candriam S.C.A. trimmed its holdings in shares of Kura Oncology, Inc. (NASDAQ:KURA) by 53.4% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 422,652 shares of the company’s stock after selling 483,830 shares during the period. Candriam S.C.A.’s holdings in Kura Oncology were worth $3,681,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. boosted its position in Kura Oncology by 11.9% during the fourth 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 during the period. Point72 DIFC Ltd purchased a new stake in Kura Oncology during the third quarter valued at about $146,000. US Bancorp DE boosted its position in Kura Oncology by 184.5% during the fourth quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 22,104 shares of the company’s stock valued at $193,000 after buying an additional 14,335 shares during the period. Erste Asset Management GmbH purchased a new stake in Kura Oncology during the third quarter valued at about $215,000. Finally, Bellevue Group AG boosted its position in Kura Oncology by 36.0% during the third quarter. Bellevue Group AG now owns 13,600 shares of the company’s stock valued at $266,000 after buying an additional 3,600 shares during the period.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Kura Oncology news, insider Mollie Leoni sold 4,963 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $7.87, for a total transaction of $39,058.81. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 88,253 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $694,551.11. This trade represents a 5.32 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, SVP Thomas James Doyle sold 4,949 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $7.87, for a total transaction of $38,948.63. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 88,193 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $694,078.91. This represents a 5.31 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 11,729 shares of company stock valued at $92,307 over the last three months. Corporate insiders own 5.50% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have issued reports on KURA. BTIG Research lowered shares of Kura Oncology from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Jefferies Financial Group cut 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. JMP Securities reaffirmed a “market outperform” rating and set a $28.00 price objective on shares of Kura Oncology in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Wedbush reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $36.00 price objective on shares of Kura Oncology in a research note on Thursday, February 27th. Finally, HC Wainwright reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $40.00 price objective on shares of Kura Oncology in a research note on Thursday, February 27th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $25.50.

Kura Oncology Price Performance

KURA stock opened at $7.53 on Friday. Kura Oncology, Inc. has a 1 year low of $6.98 and a 1 year high of $24.17. The company has a market cap of $585.56 million, a P/E ratio of -3.19 and a beta of 0.85. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $8.00 and a 200 day moving average of $13.38. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.02, a current ratio of 11.47 and a quick ratio of 11.47.

Kura Oncology (NASDAQ:KURA) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 26th. The company reported ($0.22) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.65) by $0.43. The company had revenue of $53.88 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $57.96 million. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Kura Oncology, Inc. will post -2.44 EPS for the current year.

Kura Oncology 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.