Kura Oncology (NASDAQ:KURA) Shares Down 12% – Time to Sell?

Kura Oncology, Inc. (NASDAQ:KURA) traded down 12% during mid-day trading on Wednesday. The stock traded as low as $8.89 and last traded at $8.6910. Approximately 572,242 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 66% from the average daily volume of 1,666,534 shares. The stock had previously closed at $9.88.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have weighed in on the company. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an “overweight” rating on shares of Kura Oncology in a research report on Wednesday, October 14th. Morgan Stanley set a $24.00 target price on Kura Oncology in a research report on Monday, August 24th. Citigroup restated a “market outperform” rating on shares of Kura Oncology in a research note on Wednesday, October 14th. Barclays set a $24.00 price target on Kura Oncology in a research report on Wednesday, October 14th. Finally, Wedbush upped their price target on Kura Oncology from $36.00 to $38.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 13th. Eleven analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $25.35.

Kura Oncology Stock Performance

The business’s fifty day moving average price is $10.82 and its 200-day moving average price is $9.80. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12, a quick ratio of 4.71 and a current ratio of 4.73. The stock has a market cap of $643.00 million, a PE ratio of -2.14 and a beta of 0.56.

Kura Oncology (NASDAQ:KURA) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 12th. The company reported ($0.77) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.88) by $0.11. Kura Oncology had a negative return on equity of 207.18% and a negative net margin of 384.30%. The firm had revenue of $20.87 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $20.16 million. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Kura Oncology, Inc. will post -3.25 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other Kura Oncology news, SVP Thomas Doyle sold 4,607 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, September 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $10.50, for a total value of $48,373.50. Following the sale, the senior vice president owned 142,428 shares in the company, valued at $1,495,494. The trade was a 3.13% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Mollie Leoni sold 28,802 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $10.75, for a total value of $309,621.50. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 141,095 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,516,771.25. The trade was a 16.95% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 153,881 shares of company stock valued at $1,708,183. Company insiders own 7.60% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Kura Oncology

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in KURA. BlackRock Inc. acquired a new position in Kura Oncology during the 2nd quarter worth $115,286,000. Bank of America Corp DE bought a new position in shares of Kura Oncology in the second quarter worth $12,735,000. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its holdings in shares of Kura Oncology by 32.3% during the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,425,945 shares of the company’s stock valued at $11,591,000 after purchasing an additional 348,127 shares during the period. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. acquired a new position in shares of Kura Oncology during the second quarter valued at $10,927,000. Finally, Pale Fire Capital SE raised its stake in shares of Kura Oncology by 89.6% during the first quarter. Pale Fire Capital SE now owns 857,474 shares of the company’s stock valued at $6,971,000 after purchasing an additional 405,229 shares in the last quarter.

Kura Oncology Company Profile

Kura Oncology, Inc (NASDAQ: KURA) is a biopharmaceutical company focused on developing precision medicines for the treatment of cancer. The company’s research programs target genetic and molecular drivers of malignancies, with the goal of developing therapies for patients with limited treatment options.

Kura’s lead product candidate has been ziftomenib, an oral, selective menin inhibitor being developed for genetically defined forms of acute myeloid leukemia (AML), including AML associated with NPM1 mutations and KMT2A rearrangements.