Sei Investments Co. Boosts Holdings in Kura Oncology, Inc. $KURA

Sei Investments Co. lifted its position in shares of Kura Oncology, Inc. (NASDAQ:KURA) by 74.0% in the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 319,266 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 135,818 shares during the period. Sei Investments Co. owned approximately 0.36% of Kura Oncology worth $2,596,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in KURA. IFP Advisors Inc grew its position in Kura Oncology by 115.3% in the fourth quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 2,398 shares of the company’s stock worth $25,000 after acquiring an additional 1,284 shares during the period. Royal Bank of Canada raised its position in Kura Oncology by 7.6% in the fourth quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 19,577 shares of the company’s stock valued at $203,000 after purchasing an additional 1,375 shares during the period. Allworth Financial LP lifted its stake in shares of Kura Oncology by 59.9% in the 4th quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 4,146 shares of the company’s stock valued at $43,000 after purchasing an additional 1,553 shares during the last quarter. Focus Partners Advisor Solutions LLC lifted its stake in shares of Kura Oncology by 7.9% in the 4th quarter. Focus Partners Advisor Solutions LLC now owns 22,889 shares of the company’s stock valued at $238,000 after purchasing an additional 1,682 shares during the last quarter. Finally, ProShare Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Kura Oncology by 10.0% during the 4th quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 18,572 shares of the company’s stock worth $193,000 after purchasing an additional 1,692 shares during the period.

Kura Oncology Trading Up 3.1%

NASDAQ KURA opened at $9.57 on Friday. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $10.09 and a 200-day simple moving average of $9.28. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09, a quick ratio of 6.14 and a current ratio of 6.15. Kura Oncology, Inc. has a one year low of $5.45 and a one year high of $12.49. The firm has a market cap of $849.53 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -2.86 and a beta of 0.38.

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts recently issued reports on KURA shares. CLSA set a $24.00 price objective on shares of Kura Oncology in a report on Thursday, June 4th. 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. Lake Street Capital assumed coverage on shares of Kura Oncology in a research report on Tuesday, April 14th. They set a “buy” rating and a $23.00 price target for the company. Wells Fargo & Company set a $24.00 price target on Kura Oncology in a research report on Thursday, June 4th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Kura Oncology in a research note on Friday, July 17th. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Kura Oncology currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $25.46.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Mollie Leoni sold 84,929 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, June 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $9.82, for a total value of $834,002.78. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 182,345 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,790,627.90. This trade represents a 31.78% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Insiders own 7.60% of the company’s stock.

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.