Kura Oncology (NASDAQ:KURA) Shares Gap Down – Here’s What Happened

Kura Oncology, Inc. (NASDAQ:KURA) shares gapped down prior to trading on Thursday . The stock had previously closed at $9.05, but opened at $8.15. Kura Oncology shares last traded at $7.77, with a volume of 1,473,412 shares changing hands.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

KURA has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Scotiabank dropped their target price on Kura Oncology from $18.00 to $10.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Kura Oncology from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 20th. TD Cowen reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Kura Oncology in a report on Thursday, November 21st. BTIG Research downgraded shares of Kura Oncology from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday. Finally, Wedbush upped their target price on Kura Oncology from $34.00 to $36.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Kura Oncology presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $27.13.

Kura Oncology Stock Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.02, a current ratio of 11.47 and a quick ratio of 11.47. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $8.79 and its 200-day simple moving average is $15.11.

Kura Oncology (NASDAQ:KURA) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, November 7th. The company reported ($0.63) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.64) by $0.01. During the same quarter last year, the business earned ($0.50) EPS. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Kura Oncology, Inc. will post -2.44 EPS for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Mollie Leoni sold 4,963 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $7.87, for a total transaction of $39,058.81. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 88,253 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $694,551.11. This represents a 5.32 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Thomas James Doyle sold 4,949 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $7.87, for a total transaction of $38,948.63. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 88,193 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $694,078.91. This trade represents a 5.31 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 12,255 shares of company stock worth $100,739. Company insiders own 5.50% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Kura Oncology

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Suvretta Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in Kura Oncology by 8.2% in the third quarter. Suvretta Capital Management LLC now owns 7,652,782 shares of the company’s stock valued at $149,535,000 after purchasing an additional 583,155 shares during the last quarter. Alethea Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Kura Oncology by 108.2% during the third quarter. Alethea Capital Management LLC now owns 553,542 shares of the company’s stock valued at $10,816,000 after acquiring an additional 287,636 shares during the last quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. purchased a new stake in Kura Oncology during the 3rd quarter worth about $3,695,000. Wealthfront Advisers LLC purchased a new position in Kura Oncology in the 4th quarter valued at about $1,289,000. Finally, Barclays PLC boosted its stake in shares of Kura Oncology by 104.5% during the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 165,484 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,234,000 after purchasing an additional 84,563 shares during the last quarter.

About Kura Oncology

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.