Aura Biosciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:AURA) Given Average Rating of “Hold” by Brokerages

Aura Biosciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:AURA) has earned a consensus recommendation of “Hold” from the five analysts that are covering the firm, Marketbeat reports. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, one has issued a hold recommendation and three have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average 12-month target price among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $20.00.

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on AURA shares. Leerink Partners set a $17.00 price objective on shares of Aura Biosciences in a report on Tuesday, May 12th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Aura Biosciences from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, April 4th. Weiss Ratings downgraded shares of Aura Biosciences from a “sell (d-)” rating to a “sell (e+)” rating in a report on Tuesday, May 12th. Finally, HC Wainwright raised their price objective on shares of Aura Biosciences from $22.00 to $24.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 29th.

Aura Biosciences Price Performance

Shares of Aura Biosciences stock opened at $7.47 on Friday. Aura Biosciences has a fifty-two week low of $4.73 and a fifty-two week high of $9.53. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $7.01 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $6.16. The company has a market cap of $479.57 million, a PE ratio of -4.29 and a beta of 0.37.

Aura Biosciences (NASDAQ:AURA) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, May 11th. The company reported ($0.50) earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.40) by ($0.10). Analysts expect that Aura Biosciences will post -1.73 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Aura Biosciences

In other news, insider Conor Kilroy sold 11,738 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, April 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $7.02, for a total transaction of $82,400.76. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 217,835 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,529,201.70. This trade represents a 5.11% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Also, major shareholder Matrix Capital Management Comp sold 6,922,870 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $5.64, for a total transaction of $39,044,986.80. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. 6.30% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Aura Biosciences

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in AURA. Parallel Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Aura Biosciences by 130.4% during the 1st quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 5,665 shares of the company’s stock worth $38,000 after purchasing an additional 3,206 shares in the last quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC increased its position in shares of Aura Biosciences by 49.3% during the 2nd quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 6,372 shares of the company’s stock worth $40,000 after purchasing an additional 2,104 shares in the last quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Aura Biosciences during the 4th quarter worth about $59,000. Water Island Capital LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Aura Biosciences during the 3rd quarter worth about $64,000. Finally, 49 Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Aura Biosciences during the 3rd quarter worth about $66,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 96.75% of the company’s stock.

Aura Biosciences Company Profile

Aura Biosciences is a clinical‐stage biopharmaceutical company focused on the development of novel virus‐like particle (VLP) therapies for the treatment of cancer. By combining proprietary VLP technology with photoactivatable dyes, Aura aims to deliver highly selective photodynamic therapies that target and destroy tumor cells while sparing healthy tissue. The company’s platform is designed to address solid tumors in both ophthalmic and non‐ophthalmic settings, leveraging precision activation via near‐infrared light to induce localized tumor cell apoptosis and stimulate anti‐tumor immune responses.

The lead product candidate, AU-011, is being evaluated in patients with choroidal melanoma, a rare but potentially sight-threatening eye cancer.