Short Interest in Aurora Innovation, Inc. (NASDAQ:AUR) Expands By 7.3%

Aurora Innovation, Inc. (NASDAQ:AUR) was the target of a significant increase in short interest in March. As of March 31st, there was short interest totalling 55,360,000 shares, an increase of 7.3% from the March 15th total of 51,580,000 shares. Approximately 7.6% of the company’s shares are short sold. Based on an average trading volume of 6,850,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 8.1 days.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have recently weighed in on AUR. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered shares of Aurora Innovation from a “neutral” rating to a “sell” rating and upped their target price for the stock from $1.75 to $2.00 in a report on Wednesday, January 3rd. Canaccord Genuity Group increased their price objective on shares of Aurora Innovation from $5.50 to $6.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, March 15th. Finally, TD Cowen decreased their price objective on shares of Aurora Innovation from $3.50 to $3.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, March 15th.

Insider Transactions at Aurora Innovation

In related news, Director Reid Hoffman sold 592,249 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $2.77, for a total transaction of $1,640,529.73. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 648,563 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,796,519.51. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. 13.83% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Aurora Innovation

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Aurora Innovation by 104.5% during the first quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 250,251 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,399,000 after buying an additional 127,900 shares in the last quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Aurora Innovation in the first quarter valued at about $543,000. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Aurora Innovation by 100.0% in the first quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 40,000 shares of the company’s stock valued at $224,000 after acquiring an additional 20,000 shares during the last quarter. Rhumbline Advisers bought a new stake in Aurora Innovation in the first quarter valued at approximately $121,000. Finally, BlackRock Inc. boosted its holdings in Aurora Innovation by 2.5% in the first quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 3,630,346 shares of the company’s stock valued at $20,293,000 after acquiring an additional 89,330 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 44.71% of the company’s stock.

Aurora Innovation Price Performance

Shares of AUR traded down $0.01 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, hitting $2.99. 4,429,512 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 6,910,364. The company has a market cap of $4.59 billion, a PE ratio of -4.90 and a beta of 2.91. Aurora Innovation has a 52 week low of $1.28 and a 52 week high of $4.81. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $2.73 and a 200 day simple moving average of $2.73.

Aurora Innovation (NASDAQ:AUR) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, February 14th. The company reported ($0.13) earnings per share for the quarter.

About Aurora Innovation

Aurora Innovation, Inc operates as a self-driving technology company in the United States. It focuses on developing Aurora Driver, a platform that brings a suite of self-driving hardware, software, and data services together to adapt and interoperate vehicles. The company was founded in 2017 and is headquartered in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.