Kura Oncology, Inc. (NASDAQ:KURA) Given Average Recommendation of "Moderate Buy" by Brokerages

Key Points

• Kura Oncology, Inc. has received a consensus recommendation of "Moderate Buy" from 15 brokerages, with 10 analysts issuing buy recommendations.
• The company reported a loss of $0.75 per share this quarter, significantly missing the consensus estimate, alongside revenues of $15.29 million against expectations of $64.95 million.
• Insider activity has been notable, with COO Kathleen Ford and SVP Thomas James Doyle selling shares resulting in a decrease in their positions by 9.81% and 3.97%, respectively.

Shares of Kura Oncology, Inc. (NASDAQ:KURA - Get Free Report) have been assigned a consensus recommendation of "Moderate Buy" from the fifteen brokerages that are currently covering the company, Marketbeat.com reports. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, ten have issued a buy recommendation and one has given a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 1-year price target among brokers that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $24.10.

Several research firms have recently issued reports on KURA. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Kura Oncology from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Sunday, August 17th. JMP Securities reduced 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 research report on Monday, August 11th. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued an "overweight" rating on shares of Kura Oncology in a research report on Thursday, June 26th. HC Wainwright restated a "buy" rating and issued a $40.00 target price on shares of Kura Oncology in a research note on Tuesday. Finally, Guggenheim initiated coverage on Kura Oncology in a research report on Thursday, September 4th. They set a "neutral" rating for the company.

Kura Oncology Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ KURA opened at $8.85 on Wednesday. The stock has a market cap of $768.15 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -3.92 and a beta of 0.19. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.02, a quick ratio of 6.16 and a current ratio of 6.16. Kura Oncology has a fifty-two week low of $5.41 and a fifty-two week high of $19.73. The firm's 50-day simple moving average is $7.43 and its 200 day simple moving average is $6.66.

Kura Oncology (NASDAQ:KURA - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 7th. The company reported ($0.75) 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. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Kura Oncology will post -2.44 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other news, COO Kathleen Ford sold 6,892 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $8.94, for a total transaction of $61,614.48. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer directly owned 63,375 shares of the company's stock, valued at $566,572.50. This represents a 9.81% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, SVP Thomas James Doyle sold 4,541 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $8.94, for a total transaction of $40,596.54. Following the sale, the senior vice president owned 109,829 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $981,871.26. The trade was a 3.97% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 78,058 shares of company stock worth $697,839. 6.40% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in KURA. State of Wyoming bought a new position in shares of Kura Oncology during the 1st quarter worth $48,000. Pallas Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Kura Oncology during the first quarter valued at about $66,000. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC boosted its position in Kura Oncology by 471.3% during the second quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 12,071 shares of the company's stock worth $70,000 after purchasing an additional 9,958 shares during the period. Flower City Capital purchased a new position in shares of Kura Oncology in the first quarter worth about $79,000. Finally, Magnetar Financial LLC bought a new stake in shares of Kura Oncology in the first quarter valued at approximately $79,000.

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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