Foresite Capital Management IV LLC Reduces Stake in Kura Oncology, Inc. $KURA

Foresite Capital Management IV LLC trimmed its position in shares of Kura Oncology, Inc. (NASDAQ:KURA) by 26.5% during the second quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 816,882 shares of the company’s stock after selling 295,000 shares during the quarter. Kura Oncology comprises 3.8% of Foresite Capital Management IV LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 5th biggest holding. Foresite Capital Management IV LLC’s holdings in Kura Oncology were worth $4,713,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. State of Wyoming bought a new position in shares of Kura Oncology during the first quarter valued at about $48,000. Pallas Capital Advisors LLC grew its position in Kura Oncology by 32.2% in the 2nd quarter. Pallas Capital Advisors LLC now owns 13,304 shares of the company’s stock worth $77,000 after purchasing an additional 3,241 shares in the last quarter. Magnetar Financial LLC purchased a new stake in Kura Oncology in the 1st quarter valued at about $79,000. E Fund Management Co. Ltd. lifted its position in shares of Kura Oncology by 18.9% during the 1st quarter. E Fund Management Co. Ltd. now owns 12,252 shares of the company’s stock worth $81,000 after buying an additional 1,951 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Teacher Retirement System of Texas lifted its position in shares of Kura Oncology by 29.3% during the 2nd quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas now owns 16,235 shares of the company’s stock worth $94,000 after buying an additional 3,683 shares in the last quarter.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Mollie Leoni sold 15,485 shares of Kura Oncology stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $11.18, for a total value of $173,122.30. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 225,454 shares in the company, valued at $2,520,575.72. This trade represents a 6.43% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Troy Edward Wilson purchased 50,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 8th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $8.20 per share, for a total transaction of $410,000.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 100,968 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $827,937.60. This trade represents a 98.10% increase in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this purchase provides additional information. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 122,675 shares of company stock valued at $1,196,657. 6.40% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Kura Oncology Stock Performance

Shares of KURA opened at $11.73 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $1.02 billion, a PE ratio of -4.73 and a beta of 0.34. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $9.82 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $7.70. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.02, a current ratio of 5.12 and a quick ratio of 5.12. Kura Oncology, Inc. has a 1 year low of $5.41 and a 1 year high of $12.49.

Kura Oncology (NASDAQ:KURA) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, November 4th. The company reported ($0.85) earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.57) by ($0.28). Kura Oncology had a negative return on equity of 65.42% and a negative net margin of 208.48%.The firm had revenue of $20.75 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $17.48 million. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Kura Oncology, Inc. will post -2.44 EPS for the current year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on KURA shares. Zacks Research raised Kura Oncology from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 5th. Wall Street Zen upgraded Kura Oncology from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Sunday, August 17th. HC Wainwright reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $40.00 target price on shares of Kura Oncology in a research report on Friday, November 14th. JMP Securities reissued a “market outperform” rating and issued a $24.00 price target on shares of Kura Oncology in a report on Monday, October 20th. Finally, Guggenheim initiated coverage on shares of Kura Oncology in a research report on Thursday, September 4th. They set a “neutral” rating for the company. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $26.57.

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.