Man Group plc Buys New Shares in Kura Oncology, Inc. $KURA

Man Group plc acquired a new position in shares of Kura Oncology, Inc. (NASDAQ:KURA) during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 432,908 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,749,000. Man Group plc owned about 0.49% of Kura Oncology at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. IFP Advisors Inc grew its holdings in Kura Oncology by 115.3% in the 4th quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 2,398 shares of the company’s stock valued at $25,000 after buying an additional 1,284 shares in the last quarter. Allworth Financial LP raised its stake in Kura Oncology by 59.9% in the fourth 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 in the last quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its position in Kura Oncology by 49.0% during the fourth quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 5,742 shares of the company’s stock worth $60,000 after purchasing an additional 1,888 shares during the period. Insigneo Advisory Services LLC bought a new stake in Kura Oncology during the fourth quarter worth about $105,000. Finally, LPL Financial LLC acquired a new stake in Kura Oncology during the fourth quarter worth about $105,000.

Insider Activity at Kura Oncology

In other Kura Oncology news, insider Mollie Leoni sold 84,929 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $9.82, for a total value of $834,002.78. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 182,345 shares in the company, valued at $1,790,627.90. This trade represents a 31.78% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Brian T. Powl sold 4,345 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $11.89, for a total value of $51,662.05. Following the sale, the insider owned 169,269 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,012,608.41. This represents a 2.50% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 120,761 shares of company stock worth $1,283,346. Company insiders own 7.60% of the company’s stock.

Kura Oncology Stock Performance

KURA opened at $12.66 on Monday. Kura Oncology, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $7.36 and a fifty-two week high of $13.90. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.13 billion, a PE ratio of -3.76 and a beta of 0.38. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12, a current ratio of 4.73 and a quick ratio of 4.71. The company’s 50-day moving average is $10.86 and its 200 day moving average is $9.65.

Kura Oncology (NASDAQ:KURA) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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 net margin of 384.30% and a negative return on equity of 207.18%. The firm had revenue of $20.87 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $20.16 million. As a group, research analysts predict that Kura Oncology, Inc. will post -3.23 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have commented on KURA. Wells Fargo & Company set a $24.00 target price on Kura Oncology in a research report on Thursday, June 4th. Sanford C. Bernstein set a $24.00 price objective on shares of Kura Oncology in a report on Monday, June 15th. Jefferies Financial Group set a $24.00 target price on shares of Kura Oncology in a research report on Thursday, May 28th. CLSA set a $24.00 target price on shares of Kura Oncology in a report on Thursday, June 4th. Finally, Morgan Stanley set a $24.00 price target on Kura Oncology in a research report on Monday, August 24th. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Kura Oncology has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $25.40.

Kura Oncology 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.