Kura Oncology (NASDAQ:KURA) Downgraded by Zacks Research to “Strong Sell”

Zacks Research lowered shares of Kura Oncology (NASDAQ:KURA) from a hold rating to a strong sell rating in a research note issued to investors on Tuesday morning,Zacks.com reports.

Several other analysts have also weighed in on KURA. HC Wainwright reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $40.00 target price on shares of Kura Oncology in a research note on Tuesday, January 13th. UBS Group lifted their price target on shares of Kura Oncology from $14.00 to $16.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, November 14th. Wedbush reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $38.00 price objective (up previously from $36.00) on shares of Kura Oncology in a research report on Friday, November 14th. Barclays reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $28.00 price objective (up previously from $11.00) on shares of Kura Oncology in a research note on Monday, November 24th. Finally, Citigroup restated a “market outperform” rating on shares of Kura Oncology in a research note on Friday, December 5th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have assigned a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $28.00.

Kura Oncology Stock Up 3.1%

NASDAQ:KURA traded up $0.27 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $8.99. The stock had a trading volume of 126,063 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,407,265. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.02, a current ratio of 5.12 and a quick ratio of 5.12. The company has a market capitalization of $782.66 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -3.62 and a beta of 0.25. Kura Oncology has a 1-year low of $5.41 and a 1-year high of $12.49. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $10.51 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $8.96.

Kura Oncology (NASDAQ:KURA) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, November 4th. The company reported ($0.85) EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.57) by ($0.28). The firm had revenue of $20.75 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $17.48 million. Kura Oncology had a negative return on equity of 65.42% and a negative net margin of 208.48%. Equities analysts anticipate that Kura Oncology will post -2.44 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity at Kura Oncology

In other Kura Oncology news, insider Francis Burrows sold 23,726 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, December 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $9.78, for a total transaction of $232,040.28. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 33,735 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $329,928.30. This represents a 41.29% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Teresa Brophy Bair sold 8,804 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $11.18, for a total transaction of $98,428.72. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 188,139 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,103,394.02. The trade was a 4.47% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 68,343 shares of company stock worth $730,858. Company insiders own 6.40% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Kura Oncology

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. raised its stake in Kura Oncology by 37.6% during the 3rd quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 1,265,030 shares of the company’s stock valued at $11,196,000 after purchasing an additional 345,951 shares during the period. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC boosted its position in shares of Kura Oncology by 169.3% in the second quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 56,912 shares of the company’s stock worth $334,000 after buying an additional 35,779 shares during the period. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Kura Oncology during the second quarter valued at $450,000. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in Kura Oncology by 11.7% during the second quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,014,029 shares of the company’s stock valued at $11,623,000 after buying an additional 211,470 shares during the period. Finally, CWM LLC raised its position in Kura Oncology by 185.9% during the third quarter. CWM LLC now owns 118,363 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,048,000 after buying an additional 76,957 shares during the period.

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.