Wedbush Cuts Kura Oncology (NASDAQ:KURA) Price Target to $36.00

Kura Oncology (NASDAQ:KURA) had its price target dropped by Wedbush from $38.00 to $36.00 in a research note issued to investors on Friday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an “outperform” rating on the stock. Wedbush’s price target would suggest a potential upside of 323.03% from the stock’s current price.

Several other brokerages also recently weighed in on KURA. Weiss Ratings reissued a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Kura Oncology in a research report on Thursday, January 22nd. Wall Street Zen downgraded Kura Oncology from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Monday. Leerink Partners set a $20.00 target price on Kura Oncology and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 13th. HC Wainwright restated a “buy” rating and issued a $40.00 price target on shares of Kura Oncology in a research note on Tuesday, January 13th. Finally, Zacks Research raised Kura Oncology from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 26th. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $27.71.

Kura Oncology Price Performance

KURA opened at $8.51 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $740.54 million, a PE ratio of -3.43 and a beta of 0.22. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $8.79 and a 200-day moving average price of $9.38. Kura Oncology has a 1 year low of $5.41 and a 1 year high of $12.49. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.02, a current ratio of 5.12 and a quick ratio of 5.12.

Kura Oncology (NASDAQ:KURA) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, March 5th. The company reported ($0.92) earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.42) by ($0.50). The firm had revenue of $17.34 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $34.71 million. Kura Oncology had a negative net margin of 208.48% and a negative return on equity of 65.42%. Sell-side analysts predict that Kura Oncology will post -2.44 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Kura Oncology

In other Kura Oncology news, insider Teresa Brophy Bair sold 11,208 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $8.46, for a total value of $94,819.68. Following the transaction, the insider owned 226,931 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,919,836.26. This represents a 4.71% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Francis Burrows sold 23,726 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, December 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $9.78, for a total value of $232,040.28. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 33,735 shares in the company, valued at $329,928.30. The trade was a 41.29% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 59,794 shares of company stock worth $537,176. Company insiders own 6.40% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Kura Oncology

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in KURA. State Street Corp boosted 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 worth $51,234,000 after buying an additional 1,587,959 shares during the last quarter. EcoR1 Capital LLC increased its holdings in Kura Oncology by 59.1% during 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 last quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. raised its position in Kura Oncology by 101.6% in the third quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. now owns 2,224,590 shares of the company’s stock worth $19,688,000 after acquiring an additional 1,121,228 shares during the period. Renaissance Technologies LLC boosted its stake in shares of Kura Oncology by 111.6% during the 4th quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 1,830,566 shares of the company’s stock worth $19,020,000 after acquiring an additional 965,256 shares during the last quarter. Finally, AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Kura Oncology by 36.6% during the 4th quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 3,062,212 shares of the company’s stock worth $31,816,000 after acquiring an additional 820,020 shares during the last quarter.

Key Stories Impacting Kura Oncology

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

• Positive Sentiment: KOMZIFTI commercial launch shows early demand and fast payer access — Kura reported $2.1M of net product revenue from ~5 weeks of sales and ~80% private payer coverage within 90 days, supporting near-term adoption expectations. Kura Oncology Reports Fourth Quarter and Full Year 2025 Financial Results
• Positive Sentiment: Regulatory/IP and partner milestones reduce execution risk — KOMZIFTI added to the FDA Orange Book (patents through 2044) and product shipments triggered a $135M Kyowa Kirin milestone plus additional $30M milestones for Phase 3 dosing, bolstering near-term cash. Kura Oncology anticipates $7B AML opportunity
• Positive Sentiment: Balance sheet and collaboration support runway — $667.2M cash + expected $180M in collaboration payments should fund programs into pivotal Phase 3 readouts (reduces near-term financing risk). Q4/FY2025 Financial Results
• Neutral Sentiment: Pipeline catalysts expected in 2026 — multiple data readouts and ongoing Phase 3/combination trials (KOMET-017, KOMET-007 expansions, FIT-001) could materially expand addressable markets but are timing-dependent. KURA Q4 2025 Earnings Call Highlights
• Negative Sentiment: Big earnings and revenue miss — Q4 EPS -$0.92 vs. consensus -$0.42 and total revenue $17.34M vs. est. $34.71M; collaboration revenue fell year-over-year, pressuring near-term valuation. MarketBeat Q4 Earnings Summary
• Negative Sentiment: Widening losses and higher costs — Net loss rose to $81M in Q4 as R&D and SG&A increased for commercialization and trial advancement, raising concerns about longer-term profitability before potential revenue ramps. Q4 Financials
• Negative Sentiment: Safety profile and label risks could limit uptake — KOMZIFTI carries a boxed warning for differentiation syndrome and notable QTc prolongation/other serious AEs; these issues can complicate real-world use and restrain market penetration. Safety Information
• Negative Sentiment: Insider selling and mixed institutional flows — Significant insider sales reported and large, offsetting institutional position changes suggest some investor rotation/uncertainty. QuiverQuant Launch/Ownership Summary

Kura Oncology Company Profile

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.