Insider Selling: Kura Oncology (NASDAQ:KURA) Insider Sells 8,442 Shares of Stock

Key Points

• Insider Teresa Bair sold 8,442 Kura Oncology shares for approximately $88,641 at $10.50 per share, reducing her stake by 4.32% to 187,002 shares. She had also sold 31,487 shares in August.
• KURA traded around $10.81, with a market capitalization of approximately $962 million, while its latest quarterly loss of $0.77 per share was better than analysts’ estimate of $0.88.
• Analysts maintain a generally positive view, with a “Moderate Buy” consensus and an average price target of $25.40, but the company remains unprofitable and faces execution, clinical, regulatory and financing risks.

Kura Oncology, Inc. (NASDAQ:KURA - Get Free Report) insider Teresa Bair sold 8,442 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $10.50, for a total value of $88,641.00. Following the transaction, the insider owned 187,002 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,963,521. This trade represents a 4.32% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink.

Teresa Brophy Bair also recently made the following trade(s):

• On Wednesday, August 19th, Teresa Bair sold 31,487 shares of Kura Oncology stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $12.63, for a total value of $397,680.81.

Kura Oncology Stock Performance

Kura Oncology stock traded up $0.20 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $10.81. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,890,260 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,673,937. The company has a current ratio of 4.73, a quick ratio of 4.71 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12. Kura Oncology, Inc. has a twelve month low of $7.36 and a twelve month high of $13.90. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $11.22 and a 200-day moving average price of $10.15. The firm has a market cap of $961.66 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -3.21 and a beta of 0.44.

Kura Oncology (NASDAQ:KURA - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, August 12th. The company reported ($0.77) EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.88) by $0.11. The company had revenue of $20.87 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $20.16 million. Kura Oncology had a negative return on equity of 207.18% and a negative net margin of 384.30%. Sell-side analysts predict that Kura Oncology, Inc. will post -3.25 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Key Stories Impacting Kura Oncology

Here are the key news stories impacting Kura Oncology this week:

• Positive Sentiment: KO-7246 regenerated functional pancreatic beta-cell mass and improved glycemic control in Type 1 and Type 2 diabetes models. Benefits persisted for at least one month after treatment stopped in a Type 1 diabetes model, suggesting potential disease-modifying activity. KO-7246 EASD announcement
• Positive Sentiment: The candidate increased beta-cell mass, endogenous insulin and C-peptide levels, and showed enhanced activity when combined with semaglutide. Results in human pancreatic islets also indicated selective beta-cell proliferation and improved glucose-responsive insulin secretion, strengthening the potential commercial value of Kura’s menin-inhibitor platform. KO-7246 preclinical data
• Neutral Sentiment: KO-7246 remains preclinical. Caspian plans IND-enabling work and a future Phase 1 study, with management scheduled to discuss the program on October 13. Any valuation benefit for KURA therefore depends on future clinical progress and the terms of Kura’s relationship with Caspian. Caspian and Kura KO-7246 report
• Negative Sentiment: Several Kura executives and insiders sold shares on September 28–29, including Mollie Leoni, Brian Powl, Kathleen Ford, Thomas Doyle and Teresa Bair. The transactions totaled approximately 97,000 shares and more than $1 million, signaling near-term insider selling pressure even though the sellers retained substantial holdings. Kura insider ownership filing
• Negative Sentiment: The diabetes opportunity carries substantial execution risk, including potential clinical or regulatory setbacks, unexpected safety findings and the need for additional financing before human trials can begin.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

KURA has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Morgan Stanley set a $24.00 target price on shares of Kura Oncology in a research note on Monday, August 24th. Wedbush increased their price objective on shares of Kura Oncology from $36.00 to $38.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, August 13th. Sanford C. Bernstein set a $24.00 price objective on shares of Kura Oncology in a research note on Monday, June 15th. Weiss Ratings reissued a "sell (d-)" rating on shares of Kura Oncology in a report on Friday, July 17th. Finally, Citigroup restated a "market outperform" rating on shares of Kura Oncology in a research report on Monday, August 24th. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Kura Oncology presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $25.40.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in KURA. IFP Advisors Inc boosted its stake in shares of Kura Oncology by 115.3% during the 4th quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 2,398 shares of the company's stock worth $25,000 after acquiring an additional 1,284 shares in the last quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Kura Oncology by 49.0% during the fourth quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 5,742 shares of the company's stock valued at $60,000 after purchasing an additional 1,888 shares during the last quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA acquired a new position in shares of Kura Oncology in the 1st quarter valued at $96,000. Allworth Financial LP acquired a new position in shares of Kura Oncology in the 2nd quarter valued at $113,000. Finally, E Fund Management Co. Ltd. purchased a new position in Kura Oncology in the 2nd quarter worth about $132,000.

About Kura Oncology

Kura Oncology, Inc is a biopharmaceutical company focused on developing precision medicines for the treatment of cancer. The company's research programs target specific genetic and molecular abnormalities that contribute to tumor growth, with an emphasis on hematologic malignancies and selected solid tumors.

Kura's leading program has been ziftomenib, an oral, selective menin inhibitor being developed for genetically defined forms of acute myeloid leukemia, including cancers with NPM1 mutations or certain KMT2A rearrangements.

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