Alethea Capital Management LLC Acquires 100,735 Shares of Kura Oncology, Inc. $KURA

Key Points

• Alethea Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Kura Oncology by 18.0%, now owning 659,177 shares, which constitutes around 3.2% of its investment portfolio.
• Several institutional investors, including E Fund Management and MetLife Investment Management, also raised their positions in Kura Oncology during the first quarter, indicating growing interest in the stock.
• Kura Oncology reported a quarterly EPS of ($0.75), significantly missing the consensus estimate, along with a revenue of $15.29 million, well below analyst expectations of $64.95 million.

Alethea Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Kura Oncology, Inc. (NASDAQ:KURA - Free Report) by 18.0% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 659,177 shares of the company's stock after acquiring an additional 100,735 shares during the quarter. Kura Oncology makes up approximately 3.2% of Alethea Capital Management LLC's portfolio, making the stock its 5th largest holding. Alethea Capital Management LLC owned 0.76% of Kura Oncology worth $4,351,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in KURA. Virtus ETF Advisers LLC raised its position in Kura Oncology by 71.6% during the fourth quarter. Virtus ETF Advisers LLC now owns 7,336 shares of the company's stock valued at $64,000 after acquiring an additional 3,061 shares in the last quarter. Pallas Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Kura Oncology during the first quarter valued at approximately $66,000. Flower City Capital acquired a new position in Kura Oncology during the first quarter valued at approximately $79,000. E Fund Management Co. Ltd. grew its holdings in Kura Oncology by 18.9% during the first quarter. E Fund Management Co. Ltd. now owns 12,252 shares of the company's stock valued at $81,000 after purchasing an additional 1,951 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Corton Capital Inc. acquired a new position in Kura Oncology during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $99,000.

Kura Oncology Stock Performance

KURA traded up $0.21 during trading on Friday, reaching $7.65. 2,562,689 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,714,112. Kura Oncology, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $5.41 and a fifty-two week high of $21.57. The company has a quick ratio of 6.16, a current ratio of 6.16 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.02. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $6.26 and a 200 day moving average price of $6.60. The company has a market capitalization of $664.02 million, a P/E ratio of -3.38 and a beta of 0.41.

Kura Oncology (NASDAQ:KURA - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 7th. The company reported ($0.75) earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.15 by ($0.90). The business had revenue of $15.29 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $64.95 million. As a group, analysts predict that Kura Oncology, Inc. will post -2.44 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have commented on the company. Barclays lowered their price target on Kura Oncology from $32.00 to $11.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, May 2nd. HC Wainwright reiterated a "buy" rating and set a $40.00 price target on shares of Kura Oncology in a report on Monday, April 28th. JMP Securities lowered their price target on Kura Oncology from $28.00 to $24.00 and set a "market outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, August 11th. Wedbush reiterated an "outperform" rating and set a $36.00 price target on shares of Kura Oncology in a report on Friday, June 20th. Finally, Mizuho lowered their price target on Kura Oncology from $32.00 to $30.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, May 19th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have issued a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $24.10.

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.