Kura Oncology (NASDAQ:KURA) Insider Brian Powl Sells 6,414 Shares

Kura Oncology, Inc. (NASDAQ:KURA) insider Brian Powl sold 6,414 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $8.46, for a total transaction of $54,262.44. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 183,275 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,550,506.50. The trade was a 3.38% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website.

Kura Oncology Stock Performance

Shares of KURA opened at $8.47 on Wednesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $737.06 million, a P/E ratio of -3.42 and a beta of 0.25. Kura Oncology, Inc. has a 52 week low of $5.41 and a 52 week high of $12.49. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $10.33 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $9.05. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.02, a quick ratio of 5.12 and a current ratio of 5.12.

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

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Kura Oncology

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of KURA. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in Kura Oncology by 2.2% during the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 5,468,522 shares of the company’s stock valued at $48,396,000 after purchasing an additional 120,197 shares during the period. EcoR1 Capital LLC raised its stake in shares of Kura Oncology by 59.1% in the second quarter. EcoR1 Capital LLC now owns 4,200,000 shares of the company’s stock valued at $24,234,000 after buying an additional 1,559,702 shares during the period. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of Kura Oncology by 101.6% during the 3rd quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. now owns 2,224,590 shares of the company’s stock valued at $19,688,000 after buying an additional 1,121,228 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Kura Oncology by 11.7% during the 2nd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,014,029 shares of the company’s stock worth $11,623,000 after acquiring an additional 211,470 shares during the period. Finally, Qube Research & Technologies Ltd grew its stake in shares of Kura Oncology by 63.0% during the 2nd quarter. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd now owns 1,911,886 shares of the company’s stock worth $11,032,000 after acquiring an additional 738,761 shares during the period.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms recently weighed in on KURA. Wedbush reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $38.00 price target (up from $36.00) on shares of Kura Oncology in a research report on Friday, November 14th. JMP Securities reissued a “market outperform” rating and set a $24.00 target price on shares of Kura Oncology in a research report on Monday, October 20th. Weiss Ratings restated a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Kura Oncology in a research note on Thursday, January 22nd. Zacks Research lowered Kura Oncology from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 20th. Finally, Citigroup reiterated a “market outperform” rating on shares of Kura Oncology in a report on Friday, December 5th. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have assigned a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $28.00.

Trending Headlines about Kura Oncology

Here are the key news stories impacting Kura Oncology this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Large institutional holders have been increasing positions in KURA (Vanguard, EcoR1 Capital, Jacobs Levy, Geode, Qube Research), signaling continued institutional conviction that could provide support under recent selling. MarketBeat KURA profile
• Neutral Sentiment: Analyst coverage is mixed: several firms maintain buy/outperform ratings with high targets (consensus target ~ $28), while others recently downgraded or reiterated sell views — a split that can sustain volatility but also leaves upside if clinical/news catalysts arrive. Analyst notes
• Negative Sentiment: Teresa Brophy Bair (insider) sold 11,208 shares at an average $8.46 (proceeds ~$94,820); post-sale holdings 226,931 shares (~4.71% reduction). This large director/officer sale is likely weighing on sentiment. SEC filing
• Negative Sentiment: Mollie Leoni (insider) sold 8,180 shares at $8.46 (proceeds ~$69,203); post-sale holdings 267,274 shares (~2.97% reduction). SEC filing
• Negative Sentiment: Thomas James Doyle (SVP) sold 7,142 shares at $8.46 (proceeds ~$60,421); post-sale holdings 145,167 shares (~4.69% reduction). SEC filing
• Negative Sentiment: Kathleen Ford (COO) sold 1,813 shares at $8.46 (proceeds ~$15,338); post-sale holdings 153,560 shares (~1.17% reduction). SEC filing
• Negative Sentiment: Francis Burrows (insider) sold 1,311 shares at $8.46 (proceeds ~$11,091); post-sale holdings 32,424 shares (~3.89% reduction). This follows prior Burrows sales in December, suggesting ongoing portfolio trimming rather than a one-off. SEC filing

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.