Kura Oncology (NASDAQ:KURA) Sees Large Volume Increase – Should You Buy?

Kura Oncology, Inc. (NASDAQ:KURA) saw strong trading volume on Thursday . 1,924,539 shares were traded during mid-day trading, an increase of 31% from the previous session’s volume of 1,472,741 shares.The stock last traded at $11.0290 and had previously closed at $10.34.

Analyst Ratings Changes

KURA has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Zacks Research upgraded Kura Oncology from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 26th. UBS Group reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $15.00 target price (down from $16.00) on shares of Kura Oncology in a research report on Friday, March 13th. Mizuho decreased their target price on Kura Oncology from $30.00 to $25.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, March 24th. Wall Street Zen upgraded Kura Oncology from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, May 16th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reiterated a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Kura Oncology in a research report on Tuesday, April 21st. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Kura Oncology currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $26.38.

Kura Oncology Stock Performance

The company has a market capitalization of $981.35 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -3.31 and a beta of 0.32. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $8.93 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $9.44. The company has a quick ratio of 6.14, a current ratio of 6.15 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09.

Kura Oncology (NASDAQ:KURA) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, May 12th. The company reported ($0.83) earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.88) by $0.05. Kura Oncology had a negative return on equity of 141.95% and a negative net margin of 411.19%.The company had revenue of $18.27 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $25.97 million. As a group, analysts forecast that Kura Oncology, Inc. will post -3.23 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Kura Oncology

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in KURA. IFP Advisors Inc raised its holdings in shares of Kura Oncology by 115.3% in the fourth quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 2,398 shares of the company’s stock worth $25,000 after acquiring an additional 1,284 shares during the last quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC increased its stake in Kura Oncology by 392.8% in the third quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 3,854 shares of the company’s stock valued at $34,000 after purchasing an additional 3,072 shares during the last quarter. Allworth Financial LP increased its stake in Kura Oncology by 59.9% in the fourth quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 4,146 shares of the company’s stock valued at $43,000 after purchasing an additional 1,553 shares during the last quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. increased its stake in Kura Oncology by 127.2% in the third quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 6,732 shares of the company’s stock valued at $60,000 after purchasing an additional 3,769 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Tower Research Capital LLC TRC increased its stake in Kura Oncology by 471.3% in the second quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 12,071 shares of the company’s stock valued at $70,000 after purchasing an additional 9,958 shares during 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.