Aura Biosciences (NASDAQ:AURA) Rating Lowered to Sell at Wall Street Zen

Aura Biosciences (NASDAQ:AURA) was downgraded by research analysts at Wall Street Zen from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report issued to clients and investors on Sunday.

AURA has been the subject of a number of other reports. Weiss Ratings cut shares of Aura Biosciences from a “sell (d-)” rating to a “sell (e+)” rating in a research report on Monday, June 29th. Leerink Partners set a $17.00 target price on shares of Aura Biosciences in a research note on Tuesday, May 12th. Finally, HC Wainwright increased their price target on Aura Biosciences from $22.00 to $24.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 29th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $20.50.

Aura Biosciences Trading Down 2.3%

Aura Biosciences stock traded down $0.16 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $6.84. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 442,809 shares, compared to its average volume of 704,288. The stock has a market cap of $707.19 million, a PE ratio of -3.93 and a beta of 0.40. Aura Biosciences has a 52 week low of $4.73 and a 52 week high of $9.53. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $7.20 and a 200-day moving average price of $6.42.

Aura Biosciences (NASDAQ:AURA) last posted its earnings results on Monday, May 11th. The company reported ($0.50) EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.40) by ($0.10). As a group, research analysts predict that Aura Biosciences will post -1.73 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, major shareholder Matrix Capital Management Comp sold 6,922,870 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $5.64, for a total transaction of $39,044,986.80. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Conor Kilroy sold 11,738 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, April 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $7.02, for a total transaction of $82,400.76. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 217,835 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,529,201.70. The trade was a 5.11% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Insiders have sold a total of 6,947,432 shares of company stock worth $39,209,718 in the last ninety days. Company insiders own 1.90% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Dynamic Technology Lab Private Ltd bought a new stake in shares of Aura Biosciences in the 1st quarter valued at about $137,000. Invesco Ltd. bought a new position in shares of Aura Biosciences during the second quarter worth about $76,000. Nantahala Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Aura Biosciences by 67.1% in the second quarter. Nantahala Capital Management LLC now owns 2,117,697 shares of the company’s stock worth $13,257,000 after acquiring an additional 850,000 shares during the period. Ameriprise Financial Inc. boosted its holdings in Aura Biosciences by 31.1% in the second quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 84,558 shares of the company’s stock valued at $529,000 after acquiring an additional 20,065 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bridgeway Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in Aura Biosciences in the second quarter valued at approximately $102,000. 96.75% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.