Kura Oncology (NASDAQ:KURA) Trading Down 6.8% – Here’s Why

Kura Oncology, Inc. (NASDAQ:KURA) shares fell 6.8% during trading on Friday . The company traded as low as $11.18 and last traded at $11.26. Approximately 597,312 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 63% from the average daily volume of 1,615,584 shares. The stock had previously closed at $12.08.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have weighed in on the company. Oppenheimer set a $24.00 price objective on Kura Oncology in a research note on Thursday, May 28th. UBS Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $15.00 price objective (down from $16.00) on shares of Kura Oncology in a research report on Friday, March 13th. Jefferies Financial Group set a $24.00 price objective on shares of Kura Oncology in a research note on Thursday, May 28th. Citigroup restated a “market outperform” rating on shares of Kura Oncology in a research note on Thursday, May 28th. Finally, Lake Street Capital assumed coverage on Kura Oncology in a research report on Tuesday, April 14th. They set a “buy” rating and a $23.00 price target for the company. Ten equities 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. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $25.46.

Kura Oncology Trading Down 6.3%

The company has a quick ratio of 6.14, a current ratio of 6.15 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $9.94 and a 200 day moving average of $9.25. The firm has a market cap of $1.01 billion, a PE ratio of -3.38 and a beta of 0.35.

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Kura Oncology news, insider Mollie Leoni sold 84,929 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $9.82, for a total transaction 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 ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. 7.60% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. lifted its position in shares of Kura Oncology by 6.3% during the first quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 50,008 shares of the company’s stock worth $333,000 after acquiring an additional 2,977 shares in the last quarter. Strs Ohio purchased a new position in shares of Kura Oncology in the first quarter valued at $143,000. Legal & General Group Plc grew its position in shares of Kura Oncology by 35.1% in the second quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 72,910 shares of the company’s stock valued at $421,000 after purchasing an additional 18,930 shares in the last quarter. Rhumbline Advisers lifted its holdings in Kura Oncology by 13.0% during the 2nd quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 118,896 shares of the company’s stock worth $686,000 after purchasing an additional 13,690 shares in the last quarter. Finally, American Century Companies Inc. lifted its holdings in Kura Oncology by 244.5% during the 2nd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 232,752 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,343,000 after purchasing an additional 165,189 shares in the last quarter.

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.