Kura Oncology (NASDAQ:KURA) COO Kathleen Ford Sells 3,668 Shares of Stock

Key Points

• COO Kathleen Ford sold 3,668 Kura Oncology shares at an average price of $10.75, generating $39,431; she retained 142,986 shares. She also sold 6,906 shares the previous day.
• KURA shares rose 1.9% to $10.81, while the company reported a quarterly loss of $0.77 per share—better than analysts’ expected $0.88 loss—and revenue of $20.87 million.
• Analysts maintain a generally positive outlook, with a “Moderate Buy” consensus and a $25.40 average price target, though recent insider selling and Kura’s continuing losses present risks.

Kura Oncology, Inc. (NASDAQ:KURA - Get Free Report) COO Kathleen Ford sold 3,668 shares of Kura Oncology stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $10.75, for a total value of $39,431.00. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer directly owned 142,986 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,537,099.50. This trade represents a 2.50% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website.

Kathleen Ford also recently made the following trade(s):

• On Monday, September 28th, Kathleen Ford sold 6,906 shares of Kura Oncology stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $10.50, for a total transaction of $72,513.00.

Kura Oncology Stock Up 1.9%

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

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

Key Kura Oncology News

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.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Sanford C. Bernstein set a $24.00 price target on shares of Kura Oncology in a research note on Monday, June 15th. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued an "overweight" rating on shares of Kura Oncology in a research report on Thursday, June 4th. Weiss Ratings restated a "sell (d-)" rating on shares of Kura Oncology in a research note on Friday, July 17th. Raymond James Financial set a $24.00 target price on Kura Oncology in a research report on Monday, August 24th. Finally, Citigroup reiterated a "market outperform" rating on shares of Kura Oncology in a report on Monday, August 24th. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $25.40.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Kura Oncology

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of KURA. BlackRock Inc. acquired a new position in Kura Oncology during the second quarter worth $115,286,000. Bank of America Corp DE acquired a new stake in shares of Kura Oncology in the second quarter worth about $12,735,000. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. acquired a new stake in shares of Kura Oncology in the second quarter worth about $10,927,000. Man Group plc bought a new stake in shares of Kura Oncology during the 2nd quarter worth about $4,749,000. Finally, Pale Fire Capital SE boosted its stake in shares of Kura Oncology by 89.6% during the 1st quarter. Pale Fire Capital SE now owns 857,474 shares of the company's stock worth $6,971,000 after acquiring an additional 405,229 shares in the last quarter.

Kura Oncology Company Profile

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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