Marshall Wace LLP Makes New Investment in Kura Oncology, Inc. (NASDAQ:KURA)

Marshall Wace LLP acquired a new position in shares of Kura Oncology, Inc. (NASDAQ:KURA - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm acquired 948,905 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $8,265,000. Marshall Wace LLP owned about 1.22% of Kura Oncology at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Harbor Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Kura Oncology during the 4th quarter worth about $87,000. E Fund Management Co. Ltd. acquired a new stake in shares of Kura Oncology during the 4th quarter worth about $90,000. Optimize Financial Inc acquired a new stake in shares of Kura Oncology during the 4th quarter worth about $100,000. Corient Private Wealth LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Kura Oncology during the 4th quarter worth about $109,000. Finally, Teacher Retirement System of Texas increased its position in shares of Kura Oncology by 19.9% during the 4th quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas now owns 13,749 shares of the company's stock worth $120,000 after purchasing an additional 2,285 shares during the last quarter.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, SVP Thomas James Doyle sold 4,949 shares of Kura Oncology stock in a transaction 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 sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 88,193 shares in the company, valued at $694,078.91. This trade represents a 5.31 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Mollie Leoni sold 4,963 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the insider now directly owns 88,253 shares in the company, valued at $694,551.11. The trade was a 5.32 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 11,729 shares of company stock worth $92,307 in the last ninety days. 6.40% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Kura Oncology Stock Up 1.2 %

KURA traded up $0.08 on Monday, reaching $6.51. The company's stock had a trading volume of 826,668 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,148,182. The company has a market capitalization of $525.86 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -2.76 and a beta of 0.83. Kura Oncology, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $5.41 and a fifty-two week high of $23.48. The company has a quick ratio of 11.47, a current ratio of 11.47 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.02. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $6.85 and a two-hundred day moving average of $9.85.

Kura Oncology (NASDAQ:KURA - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, February 26th. The company reported ($0.22) EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of ($0.65) by $0.43. The company had revenue of $53.88 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $57.96 million. As a group, analysts forecast that Kura Oncology, Inc. will post -2.44 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have weighed in on the company. Wedbush reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and issued a $36.00 target price on shares of Kura Oncology in a research report on Tuesday, April 8th. BTIG Research downgraded Kura Oncology from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Scotiabank dropped their target price on Kura Oncology from $18.00 to $10.00 and set a "sector perform" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. UBS Group dropped their target price on Kura Oncology from $27.00 to $14.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, March 6th. Finally, StockNews.com raised Kura Oncology from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, April 4th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $25.50.

Kura Oncology Company 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.