AQR Capital Management LLC Boosts Position in Kura Oncology, Inc. $KURA

Key Points

• AQR Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Kura Oncology by 407.8%, holding approximately 760,332 shares valued at $5.02 million after acquiring an additional 610,604 shares in the first quarter.
• Kura Oncology reported a quarterly loss of ($0.75) EPS, significantly missing the analysts' expected earnings of $0.15 and revenue projections of $64.95 million.
• CEO Troy Edward Wilson bought 50,000 shares of Kura Oncology, increasing his holdings by 98.1%, indicating strong insider confidence in the company.

AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its position in Kura Oncology, Inc. (NASDAQ:KURA - Free Report) by 407.8% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 760,332 shares of the company's stock after acquiring an additional 610,604 shares during the period. AQR Capital Management LLC owned 0.88% of Kura Oncology worth $5,018,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. ADAR1 Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in Kura Oncology during the first quarter worth $165,000. Graham Capital Management L.P. increased its holdings in shares of Kura Oncology by 242.6% in the first quarter. Graham Capital Management L.P. now owns 174,559 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,152,000 after purchasing an additional 123,610 shares during the last quarter. Armistice Capital LLC increased its stake in shares of Kura Oncology by 13.3% during the first quarter. Armistice Capital LLC now owns 6,572,000 shares of the company's stock worth $43,375,000 after purchasing an additional 772,000 shares during the period. DAFNA Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in Kura Oncology by 3.3% in the 1st quarter. DAFNA Capital Management LLC now owns 463,368 shares of the company's stock valued at $3,058,000 after purchasing an additional 15,000 shares during the period. Finally, Magnetar Financial LLC acquired a new position in Kura Oncology in the 1st quarter valued at $79,000.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Troy Edward Wilson bought 50,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Monday, September 8th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $8.20 per share, for a total transaction of $410,000.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the chief executive officer directly owned 100,968 shares in the company, valued at $827,937.60. The trade was a 98.10% increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Corporate insiders own 6.40% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have issued reports on KURA. Guggenheim began coverage on Kura Oncology in a research report on Thursday, September 4th. They issued a "neutral" rating on the stock. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Kura Oncology from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Sunday, August 17th. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an "overweight" rating on shares of Kura Oncology in a research note on Thursday, June 26th. JMP Securities dropped their price target on Kura Oncology from $28.00 to $24.00 and set a "market outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, August 11th. Finally, Wedbush restated an "outperform" rating and set a $36.00 price objective on shares of Kura Oncology in a research report on Friday, June 20th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have assigned a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Kura Oncology has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $24.10.

Kura Oncology Stock Performance

Kura Oncology stock traded up $0.02 during mid-day trading on Monday, reaching $8.21. 1,432,061 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,804,393. The business's fifty day simple moving average is $6.96 and its 200 day simple moving average is $6.57. The company has a quick ratio of 6.16, a current ratio of 6.16 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.02. Kura Oncology, Inc. has a one year low of $5.41 and a one year high of $21.40. The firm has a market capitalization of $712.60 million, a PE ratio of -3.63 and a beta of 0.19.

Kura Oncology (NASDAQ:KURA - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, August 7th. The company reported ($0.75) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.15 by ($0.90). The firm had revenue of $15.29 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $64.95 million. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Kura Oncology, Inc. will post -2.44 earnings per share for the current year.

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.