Kura Oncology, Inc. (NASDAQ:KURA) Given Consensus Rating of "Moderate Buy" by Analysts

Key Points

• Analysts hold a “Moderate Buy” consensus on Kura Oncology, with 10 buys, two holds and one sell among 13 ratings. The average 12-month price target is $25.46, well above the reported share price of $10.15.
• Insider Mollie Leoni sold 84,929 shares for approximately $834,000, reducing her ownership by 31.78%; corporate insiders own 7.60% of the company.
• Kura reported a quarterly loss of $0.83 per share, better than the expected $0.88 loss, but revenue of $18.27 million fell short of the $25.97 million estimate. Analysts expect a full-year loss of $3.45 per share.

Kura Oncology, Inc. (NASDAQ:KURA - Get Free Report) has been given an average recommendation of "Moderate Buy" by the thirteen ratings firms that are covering the company, Marketbeat.com reports. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, two have issued a hold recommendation and ten have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average 12-month price target among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $25.4615.

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on KURA shares. Jefferies Financial Group set a $24.00 price objective on Kura Oncology in a research report on Thursday, May 28th. Citigroup restated a "market outperform" rating on shares of Kura Oncology in a research report on Thursday, May 28th. Citizens Jmp reaffirmed a "market outperform" rating and set a $24.00 target price on shares of Kura Oncology in a research note on Monday, June 15th. CLSA set a $24.00 price target on Kura Oncology in a research report on Thursday, June 4th. Finally, Oppenheimer set a $24.00 price target on Kura Oncology in a research note on Thursday, May 28th.

Insider Buying and Selling at Kura Oncology

In related news, insider Mollie Leoni sold 84,929 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $9.82, for a total value of $834,002.78. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 182,345 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,790,627.90. This represents a 31.78% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 7.60% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Kura Oncology

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of KURA. State Street Corp raised its position in shares of Kura Oncology by 47.5% during the 4th quarter. State Street Corp now owns 4,931,090 shares of the company's stock worth $51,234,000 after buying an additional 1,587,959 shares in the last quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Kura Oncology by 101.6% in the third quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. now owns 2,224,590 shares of the company's stock valued at $19,688,000 after acquiring an additional 1,121,228 shares in the last quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC increased its stake in shares of Kura Oncology by 111.6% during the fourth quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 1,830,566 shares of the company's stock valued at $19,020,000 after acquiring an additional 965,256 shares during the period. AQR Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Kura Oncology by 36.6% during the fourth quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 3,062,212 shares of the company's stock valued at $31,816,000 after acquiring an additional 820,020 shares during the period. Finally, Qube Research & Technologies Ltd increased its stake in shares of Kura Oncology by 63.0% during the second quarter. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd now owns 1,911,886 shares of the company's stock valued at $11,032,000 after acquiring an additional 738,761 shares during the period.

Kura Oncology Trading Down 2.3%

Shares of NASDAQ:KURA opened at $10.15 on Tuesday. The company has a quick ratio of 6.14, a current ratio of 6.15 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09. The company's 50-day moving average price is $10.30 and its 200 day moving average price is $9.28. The company has a market cap of $901.02 million, a PE ratio of -3.03 and a beta of 0.35. Kura Oncology has a fifty-two week low of $5.45 and a fifty-two week high of $12.49.

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

Kura Oncology Company Profile

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.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.