Kura Oncology, Inc. $KURA Shares Bought by Janney Montgomery Scott LLC

Key Points

• Janney Montgomery Scott LLC boosted its Kura Oncology stake by 285.6% in the first quarter, buying 117,650 additional shares and bringing its total to 158,850 shares worth about $1.29 million.
• Several other institutions also increased positions in KURA, while insider Mollie Leoni sold 84,929 shares in June for about $834,000, cutting her holdings by 31.78%.
• Analysts remain cautiously positive overall: the stock has a Moderate Buy consensus with an average price target of $25.46, even as Kura trades near $11.45 after falling 5.2% on the day and continues to report losses.

Janney Montgomery Scott LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Kura Oncology, Inc. (NASDAQ:KURA - Free Report) by 285.6% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 158,850 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 117,650 shares during the period. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC owned about 0.18% of Kura Oncology worth $1,291,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of KURA. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. lifted its position in shares of Kura Oncology by 6.3% in the first quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 50,008 shares of the company's stock valued at $333,000 after acquiring an additional 2,977 shares in the last quarter. Strs Ohio acquired a new position in Kura Oncology in the 1st quarter valued at about $143,000. Legal & General Group Plc lifted its holdings in Kura Oncology by 35.1% in the 2nd quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 72,910 shares of the company's stock valued at $421,000 after purchasing an additional 18,930 shares in the last quarter. Rhumbline Advisers boosted its stake in shares of Kura Oncology by 13.0% during the 2nd quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 118,896 shares of the company's stock worth $686,000 after purchasing an additional 13,690 shares during the last quarter. Finally, American Century Companies Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Kura Oncology by 244.5% during the second quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 232,752 shares of the company's stock worth $1,343,000 after buying an additional 165,189 shares in the last quarter.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, insider Mollie Leoni sold 84,929 shares of Kura Oncology stock in a transaction on Thursday, June 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $9.82, for a total transaction of $834,002.78. Following the sale, the insider owned 182,345 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,790,627.90. The trade was a 31.78% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Insiders own 7.60% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on KURA shares. Mizuho reduced their target price on Kura Oncology from $30.00 to $25.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, March 24th. Sanford C. Bernstein set a $24.00 price target on shares of Kura Oncology in a research report on Monday, June 15th. Jefferies Financial Group set a $24.00 price target on shares of Kura Oncology in a research note on Thursday, May 28th. Weiss Ratings restated a "sell (d-)" rating on shares of Kura Oncology in a report on Tuesday, April 21st. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised Kura Oncology from a "strong sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Saturday, May 16th. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $25.46.

Kura Oncology Stock Down 5.2%

NASDAQ KURA traded down $0.63 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $11.45. The company had a trading volume of 1,338,778 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,662,442. The firm's 50 day moving average is $9.99 and its 200 day moving average is $9.27. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09, a current ratio of 6.15 and a quick ratio of 6.14. Kura Oncology, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $5.45 and a fifty-two week high of $12.49. The company has a market capitalization of $1.02 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -3.42 and a beta of 0.35.

Kura Oncology (NASDAQ:KURA - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, May 12th. The company reported ($0.83) earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.88) by $0.05. The company had revenue of $18.27 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $25.97 million. Kura Oncology had a negative return on equity of 141.95% and a negative net margin of 411.19%. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Kura Oncology, Inc. will post -3.45 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

About Kura Oncology

Kura Oncology, Inc NASDAQ: KURA is a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company focused on the discovery and development of targeted oncology therapies. Headquartered in La Jolla, California, the company leverages expertise in molecular biology and precision medicine to identify key drivers of cancer growth and design small-molecule inhibitors that block those pathways. Kura's research platform integrates genomic insights with medicinal chemistry to advance candidates against well-validated targets in solid tumors and hematologic malignancies.

The company's lead clinical candidate, tipifarnib, is a farnesyltransferase inhibitor being evaluated for the treatment of HRAS-mutant head and neck squamous cell carcinoma and various non-small cell lung cancers.

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