Kura Oncology, Inc. (NASDAQ:KURA) Sees Large Growth in Short Interest

Kura Oncology, Inc. (NASDAQ:KURA) was the target of a significant growth in short interest in December. As of December 31st, there was short interest totalling 10,440,000 shares, a growth of 17.4% from the December 15th total of 8,890,000 shares. Approximately 16.0% of the company’s stock are short sold. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 1,660,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 6.3 days.

Kura Oncology Price Performance

Kura Oncology stock opened at $7.26 on Friday. Kura Oncology has a twelve month low of $6.98 and a twelve month high of $24.17. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $10.51 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $16.36. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.02, a current ratio of 11.47 and a quick ratio of 11.47.

Institutional Trading of Kura Oncology

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Suvretta Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in Kura Oncology by 8.2% in the 3rd quarter. Suvretta Capital Management LLC now owns 7,652,782 shares of the company’s stock valued at $149,535,000 after buying an additional 583,155 shares in the last quarter. Armistice Capital LLC boosted its position in shares of Kura Oncology by 14.7% in the second quarter. Armistice Capital LLC now owns 2,350,000 shares of the company’s stock valued at $48,386,000 after acquiring an additional 302,000 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Kura Oncology by 2.4% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,780,509 shares of the company’s stock valued at $34,798,000 after acquiring an additional 41,535 shares in the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. increased its position in Kura Oncology by 1.5% during the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 1,588,401 shares of the company’s stock worth $28,687,000 after acquiring an additional 23,113 shares during the period. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its stake in Kura Oncology by 2.3% in the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 624,952 shares of the company’s stock worth $12,212,000 after purchasing an additional 14,106 shares in the last quarter.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on KURA shares. JMP Securities restated a “market outperform” rating and set a $32.00 target price on shares of Kura Oncology in a report on Tuesday, November 19th. Bank of America lowered their price objective on shares of Kura Oncology from $36.00 to $29.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, November 22nd. Scotiabank cut their target price on shares of Kura Oncology from $18.00 to $10.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. HC Wainwright lifted their price target on Kura Oncology from $32.00 to $37.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, November 21st. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group dropped their price objective on Kura Oncology from $32.00 to $28.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, November 21st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $27.38.

Kura Oncology Company Profile

Kura Oncology, Inc, a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company, develops medicines for the treatment of cancer. The company’s pipeline consists of small molecule product candidates that target cancer. Its lead product candidates are ziftomenib, an orally bioavailable small molecule inhibitor of the menin-KMT2A interaction for the treatment of genetically defined subsets of acute leukemias, including acute myeloid leukemia and acute lymphoblastic leukemia; tipifarnib, an orally bioavailable farnesyl transferase inhibitor combination with alpelisib for patients with PIK3CA-dependent HNSCC; and KO-2806, a farnesyl transferase inhibitor for the treatment of solid tumors.