Jupiter Topco LLC Makes New Investment in Aura Biosciences, Inc. $AURA

Jupiter Topco LLC acquired a new position in shares of Aura Biosciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:AURA) during the second quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor acquired 2,500,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $17,788,000.

Several other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in AURA. Legal & General Group Plc purchased a new stake in Aura Biosciences during the second quarter worth $29,000. Parallel Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Aura Biosciences by 130.4% in the first quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 5,665 shares of the company’s stock valued at $38,000 after buying an additional 3,206 shares in the last quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC increased its holdings in Aura Biosciences by 49.3% in the second quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 6,372 shares of the company’s stock valued at $40,000 after buying an additional 2,104 shares in the last quarter. Water Island Capital LLC purchased a new position in Aura Biosciences in the third quarter valued at $64,000. Finally, ProShare Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Aura Biosciences in the fourth quarter worth about $59,000. 96.75% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Aura Biosciences Price Performance

Shares of Aura Biosciences stock opened at $7.40 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $767.45 million, a P/E ratio of -4.23 and a beta of 0.40. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $7.31 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $6.89. Aura Biosciences, Inc. has a 12 month low of $4.73 and a 12 month high of $9.53.

Aura Biosciences (NASDAQ:AURA) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, August 11th. The company reported ($0.48) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.38) by ($0.10). As a group, research analysts anticipate that Aura Biosciences, Inc. will post -1.61 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Leerink Partners set a $17.00 target price on shares of Aura Biosciences in a research note on Tuesday, May 12th. Wall Street Zen lowered Aura Biosciences from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Sunday, August 16th. Weiss Ratings raised Aura Biosciences from a “sell (e+)” rating to a “sell (d-)” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 14th. Finally, HC Wainwright lowered their price target on Aura Biosciences from $24.00 to $18.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, August 11th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $17.50.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Aura Biosciences news, insider Anthony S. Gibney sold 12,824 shares of Aura Biosciences stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $6.42, for a total transaction of $82,330.08. Following the sale, the insider owned 265,354 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,703,572.68. The trade was a 4.61% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Insiders own 1.90% of the company’s stock.

About Aura Biosciences

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.