Insider Buying: Kura Oncology (NASDAQ:KURA) CEO Acquires $1,112,000.00 in Stock

Kura Oncology, Inc. (NASDAQ:KURA) CEO Troy Edward Wilson purchased 100,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 17th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $11.12 per share, for a total transaction of $1,112,000.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 379,194 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,216,637.28. The trade was a 35.82% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link.

Kura Oncology Trading Up 1.6%

Shares of KURA opened at $12.53 on Thursday. Kura Oncology, Inc. has a 12-month low of $6.95 and a 12-month high of $12.90. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.11 billion, a P/E ratio of -3.72 and a beta of 0.38. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $10.42 and a 200 day moving average price of $9.42. The company has a current ratio of 4.73, a quick ratio of 4.71 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12.

Kura Oncology (NASDAQ:KURA) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, August 12th. The company reported ($0.77) EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.88) by $0.11. The company had revenue of $20.87 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $20.16 million. Kura Oncology had a negative net margin of 384.30% and a negative return on equity of 207.18%. Sell-side analysts forecast that Kura Oncology, Inc. will post -3.23 EPS for the current year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts recently commented on the company. Jefferies Financial Group set a $24.00 price objective on Kura Oncology in a report on Thursday, May 28th. Citigroup restated a “market outperform” rating on shares of Kura Oncology in a research report on Thursday, May 28th. Wedbush upped their price target on Kura Oncology from $36.00 to $38.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 13th. Citizens Jmp reaffirmed a “market outperform” rating and issued a $24.00 price target on shares of Kura Oncology in a research note on Monday, June 15th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated an “overweight” rating on shares of Kura Oncology in a report on Thursday, June 4th. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Kura Oncology has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $25.62.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Kura Oncology

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. IFP Advisors Inc raised its holdings in shares of 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 during the period. Allworth Financial LP boosted its holdings in Kura Oncology by 59.9% during the 4th quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 4,146 shares of the company’s stock valued at $43,000 after acquiring an additional 1,553 shares during the period. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC grew its position in Kura Oncology by 49.0% in the 4th quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 5,742 shares of the company’s stock valued at $60,000 after acquiring an additional 1,888 shares in the last quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC increased its stake in Kura Oncology by 471.3% during the second quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 12,071 shares of the company’s stock worth $70,000 after purchasing an additional 9,958 shares during the period. Finally, Brevan Howard Capital Management LP purchased a new stake in Kura Oncology during the second quarter worth about $80,000.

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.