HC Wainwright Reaffirms "Buy" Rating for Kura Oncology (NASDAQ:KURA)

Key Points

• HC Wainwright has reaffirmed a "Buy" rating for Kura Oncology (NASDAQ:KURA), setting a target price of $40.00, which suggests a potential upside of 306.50% from its previous close.
• The stock is currently trading at $9.84, with a 12-month range of $5.41 to $19.73, and has experienced a decline of 2.9% on the latest trading day.
• Recent quarterly earnings showed a significant earnings miss, with Kura Oncology reporting ($0.75) earnings per share, compared to an expected $0.15, and revenues of $15.29 million, far below the consensus estimate of $64.95 million.

Kura Oncology (NASDAQ:KURA - Get Free Report)'s stock had its "buy" rating reiterated by investment analysts at HC Wainwright in a research report issued on Monday,Benzinga reports. They currently have a $40.00 target price on the stock. HC Wainwright's price objective indicates a potential upside of 306.50% from the company's previous close.

Several other research analysts have also weighed in on the stock. JMP Securities decreased their price objective on shares of Kura Oncology from $28.00 to $24.00 and set a "market outperform" rating for the company in a report on Monday, August 11th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a "sell (d-)" rating on shares of Kura Oncology in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Kura Oncology from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Sunday, August 17th. Zacks Research lowered shares of Kura Oncology from a "hold" rating to a "strong sell" rating in a report on Tuesday, October 7th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an "overweight" rating on shares of Kura Oncology in a report on Thursday, June 26th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have issued a Buy rating, three have issued a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $24.67.

Kura Oncology Stock Down 2.9%

KURA stock opened at $9.84 on Monday. Kura Oncology has a 12 month low of $5.41 and a 12 month high of $19.73. The company's 50 day simple moving average is $8.37 and its 200-day simple moving average is $6.90. The firm has a market capitalization of $854.11 million, a PE ratio of -4.35 and a beta of 0.32. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.02, a current ratio of 6.16 and a quick ratio of 6.16.

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 the consensus estimate of $64.95 million. Equities analysts expect that Kura Oncology will post -2.44 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Troy Edward Wilson sold 36,615 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, September 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $8.94, for a total value of $327,338.10. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 246,853 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,206,865.82. This represents a 12.92% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Mollie Leoni sold 12,314 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, September 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $8.94, for a total transaction of $110,087.16. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 158,439 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,416,444.66. This represents a 7.21% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 78,058 shares of company stock valued at $697,839 in the last three months. Company insiders own 6.40% of the company's stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. State of Wyoming acquired a new stake in shares of Kura Oncology in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $48,000. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC grew its stake in shares of Kura Oncology by 471.3% in the second quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 12,071 shares of the company's stock valued at $70,000 after buying an additional 9,958 shares in the last quarter. Pallas Capital Advisors LLC boosted its position in Kura Oncology by 32.2% during the second quarter. Pallas Capital Advisors LLC now owns 13,304 shares of the company's stock worth $77,000 after purchasing an additional 3,241 shares during the period. Magnetar Financial LLC bought a new position in Kura Oncology during the first quarter worth $79,000. Finally, Brevan Howard Capital Management LP bought a new stake in shares of Kura Oncology in the second quarter valued at about $80,000.

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.

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