Kura Oncology (NASDAQ:KURA) Stock Price Down 3.5% – Time to Sell?

Kura Oncology, Inc. (NASDAQ:KURA)’s stock price was down 3.5% during trading on Thursday . The stock traded as low as $9.85 and last traded at $9.8240. Approximately 486,031 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 69% from the average daily volume of 1,588,560 shares. The stock had previously closed at $10.18.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have issued reports on KURA. UBS Group increased their price target on Kura Oncology from $14.00 to $16.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, November 14th. Guggenheim assumed coverage on Kura Oncology in a research note on Thursday, September 4th. They set a “neutral” rating for the company. HC Wainwright reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $40.00 target price on shares of Kura Oncology in a report on Friday, November 14th. Zacks Research raised shares of Kura Oncology from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 5th. Finally, Citigroup restated a “market outperform” rating on shares of Kura Oncology in a research report on Friday, December 5th. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $26.57.

Kura Oncology Price Performance

The stock has a 50 day moving average of $10.63 and a two-hundred day moving average of $8.36. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.02, a quick ratio of 5.12 and a current ratio of 5.12. The stock has a market cap of $856.28 million, a PE ratio of -3.97 and a beta of 0.21.

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

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Brian T. Powl sold 8,891 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $8.94, for a total value of $79,485.54. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 99,676 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $891,103.44. This represents a 8.19% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Troy Edward Wilson sold 36,615 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $8.94, for a total value of $327,338.10. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 246,853 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,206,865.82. The trade was a 12.92% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold 146,401 shares of company stock valued at $1,428,697 in the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 6.40% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. BVF Inc. IL grew its holdings in shares of Kura Oncology by 202.0% during the 1st quarter. BVF Inc. IL now owns 7,754,129 shares of the company’s stock valued at $51,177,000 after acquiring an additional 5,186,660 shares in the last quarter. Armistice Capital LLC boosted its position in Kura Oncology by 13.3% during the first quarter. Armistice Capital LLC now owns 6,572,000 shares of the company’s stock valued at $43,375,000 after purchasing an additional 772,000 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in Kura Oncology by 2.2% in 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 in the last quarter. EcoR1 Capital LLC increased its position in Kura Oncology by 59.1% in the 2nd quarter. EcoR1 Capital LLC now owns 4,200,000 shares of the company’s stock worth $24,234,000 after purchasing an additional 1,559,702 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. raised its stake 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 worth $19,688,000 after purchasing an additional 1,121,228 shares in the last quarter.

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.