Kura Oncology (NASDAQ:KURA) Raised to Strong-Buy at Lake Street Capital

Key Points

• Lake Street Capital upgraded Kura Oncology to a strong-buy; the analyst mix is 1 Strong Buy, 9 Buy, 2 Hold and 1 Sell, with a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $26.38.
• KURA opened at $9.14 (up ~4.8%) after the company reported a quarter that missed expectations — EPS ($0.92) vs. ($0.72) est. and revenue $17.34M vs. $34.71M — leaving deeply negative margins and a full-year EPS consensus of -2.44.
• Insiders have sold about 36,068 shares in the last 90 days (insiders own 6.40%), even as major institutions like Suvretta, Vanguard and State Street significantly increased their stakes.

Kura Oncology (NASDAQ:KURA - Get Free Report) was upgraded by research analysts at Lake Street Capital to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report issued on Tuesday, Marketbeat Ratings reports.

A number of other brokerages have also commented on KURA. HC Wainwright reiterated a "buy" rating and issued a $40.00 price objective on shares of Kura Oncology in a research report on Tuesday, January 13th. Wedbush reduced their price target on Kura Oncology from $38.00 to $36.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, March 6th. Mizuho reduced their price target on Kura Oncology from $30.00 to $25.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, March 24th. Leerink Partners set a $20.00 price target on Kura Oncology and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 13th. Finally, Wall Street Zen lowered Kura Oncology from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research report on Monday, March 2nd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have assigned a Buy rating, two have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $26.38.

Kura Oncology Stock Up 4.8%

Shares of KURA opened at $9.14 on Tuesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $811.27 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -2.87 and a beta of 0.25. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06, a quick ratio of 6.05 and a current ratio of 6.06. The business's fifty day moving average price is $8.46 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $9.51. Kura Oncology has a 52 week low of $5.45 and a 52 week high of $12.49.

Kura Oncology (NASDAQ:KURA - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, March 5th. The company reported ($0.92) EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of ($0.72) by ($0.20). The firm had revenue of $17.34 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $34.71 million. Kura Oncology had a negative net margin of 412.95% and a negative return on equity of 102.59%. On average, analysts predict that Kura Oncology will post -2.44 earnings per share for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Kura Oncology news, SVP Thomas James Doyle sold 7,142 shares of Kura Oncology stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $8.46, for a total transaction of $60,421.32. Following the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 145,167 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,228,112.82. The trade was a 4.69% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Brian T. Powl sold 6,414 shares of Kura Oncology stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $8.46, for a total value of $54,262.44. Following the transaction, the insider owned 183,275 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,550,506.50. This represents a 3.38% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 36,068 shares of company stock valued at $305,135. Insiders own 6.40% of the company's stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Suvretta Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in Kura Oncology by 5.7% during the fourth quarter. Suvretta Capital Management LLC now owns 8,575,422 shares of the company's stock worth $89,099,000 after acquiring an additional 459,422 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Kura Oncology by 0.7% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 5,507,627 shares of the company's stock valued at $57,224,000 after purchasing an additional 39,105 shares in the last quarter. Armistice Capital LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Kura Oncology by 5.7% in the fourth quarter. Armistice Capital LLC now owns 4,936,000 shares of the company's stock valued at $51,285,000 after purchasing an additional 264,000 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Kura Oncology by 47.5% in the fourth quarter. State Street Corp now owns 4,931,090 shares of the company's stock valued at $51,234,000 after purchasing an additional 1,587,959 shares in the last quarter. Finally, AQR Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Kura Oncology by 36.6% in the fourth quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 3,062,212 shares of the company's stock valued at $31,816,000 after purchasing an additional 820,020 shares in the last quarter.

About Kura Oncology

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.

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