Kura Oncology (NASDAQ:KURA) Shares Up 6.7% – Time to Buy?

Kura Oncology, Inc. (NASDAQ:KURA) shot up 6.7% during trading on Monday . The company traded as high as $8.40 and last traded at $8.44. 1,697,523 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, an increase of 14% from the average session volume of 1,487,299 shares. The stock had previously closed at $7.91.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

KURA has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. TD Cowen reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Kura Oncology in a research report on Thursday, November 21st. UBS Group started coverage on shares of Kura Oncology in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. They set a “buy” rating and a $27.00 target price on the stock. HC Wainwright lifted their price target on shares of Kura Oncology from $32.00 to $37.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 21st. Scotiabank cut their price target on Kura Oncology from $18.00 to $10.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald restated an “overweight” rating on shares of Kura Oncology in a research note on Monday, December 9th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $27.38.

Kura Oncology Trading Up 4.3 %

The company has a market capitalization of $641.52 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -3.50 and a beta of 0.78. The company has a current ratio of 11.47, a quick ratio of 11.47 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.02. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $8.97 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $15.38.

Kura Oncology (NASDAQ:KURA) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, November 7th. The company reported ($0.63) earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.64) by $0.01. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted ($0.50) EPS. On average, equities analysts predict that Kura Oncology, Inc. will post -2.44 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, SVP Thomas James Doyle sold 4,949 shares of Kura Oncology stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $7.87, for a total transaction of $38,948.63. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 88,193 shares in the company, valued at approximately $694,078.91. The trade was a 5.31 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Mollie Leoni sold 4,963 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $7.87, for a total value of $39,058.81. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 88,253 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $694,551.11. The trade was a 5.32 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 12,255 shares of company stock valued at $100,739 in the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 5.50% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in KURA. Suvretta Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Kura Oncology by 8.2% during the third quarter. Suvretta Capital Management LLC now owns 7,652,782 shares of the company’s stock valued at $149,535,000 after purchasing an additional 583,155 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in Kura Oncology by 2.4% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,780,509 shares of the company’s stock worth $34,798,000 after buying an additional 41,535 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its holdings in Kura Oncology by 1.5% in the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 1,588,401 shares of the company’s stock worth $28,687,000 after acquiring an additional 23,113 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Kura Oncology by 2.3% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 624,952 shares of the company’s stock valued at $12,212,000 after acquiring an additional 14,106 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Alethea Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of Kura Oncology by 108.2% during the third quarter. Alethea Capital Management LLC now owns 553,542 shares of the company’s stock worth $10,816,000 after purchasing an additional 287,636 shares during the period.

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.