Kura Oncology (NASDAQ:KURA) Stock Falls 12% – Here’s What Happened

Kura Oncology, Inc. (NASDAQ:KURA) shares were down 12% 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.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have commented on the stock. Weiss Ratings reissued a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Kura Oncology in a report on Thursday, October 15th. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an “overweight” rating on shares of Kura Oncology in a report on Wednesday, October 14th. Wedbush increased their price target on shares of Kura Oncology from $36.00 to $38.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 13th. UBS Group reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Kura Oncology in a research note on Monday, October 5th. Finally, Citizens Jmp restated a “market outperform” rating and set a $24.00 price objective on shares of Kura Oncology in a research report on Monday, August 24th. Eleven analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $25.35.

Kura Oncology Stock Down 18.9%

The company has a current ratio of 4.73, a quick ratio of 4.71 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12. The company has a market capitalization of $712.66 million, a P/E ratio of -2.39 and a beta of 0.56. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $11.06 and a 200 day moving average price of $9.81.

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

Insider Transactions at Kura Oncology

In other Kura Oncology news, COO Kathleen Ford sold 3,668 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $10.75, for a total transaction of $39,431.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer directly owned 142,986 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,537,099.50. This trade represents a 2.50% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Brian T. Powl sold 15,430 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $10.75, for a total value of $165,872.50. Following the sale, the insider owned 136,819 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,470,804.25. The trade was a 10.13% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last three months, insiders have sold 153,881 shares of company stock worth $1,708,183. 7.60% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Kura Oncology

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