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

Shares of Aura Biosciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:AURA) have received an average rating of “Moderate Buy” from the six analysts that are covering the company, MarketBeat Ratings reports. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has given a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. The average 1-year price objective among brokerages that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $20.50.

AURA has been the subject of a number of research reports. Evercore ISI started coverage on shares of Aura Biosciences in a research report on Tuesday, November 25th. They issued an “outperform” rating for the company. Weiss Ratings reissued a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Aura Biosciences in a report on Monday, December 29th.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, insider Janet Jill Hopkins sold 17,109 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $5.42, for a total value of $92,730.78. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 252,685 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,369,552.70. This represents a 6.34% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Los Pinos Elisabet De sold 16,928 shares of Aura Biosciences stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $4.86, for a total transaction of $82,270.08. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 457,463 shares in the company, valued at $2,223,270.18. The trade was a 3.57% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last quarter, insiders sold 35,618 shares of company stock valued at $182,685. 6.30% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Aura Biosciences

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Frazier Life Sciences Management L.P. acquired a new position in Aura Biosciences in the 2nd quarter valued at $31,926,000. Nantahala Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings 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 valued at $13,257,000 after acquiring an additional 850,000 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Aura Biosciences by 16.7% during the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 2,890,503 shares of the company’s stock worth $17,863,000 after acquiring an additional 413,001 shares during the period. Permanent Capital Management LP purchased a new position in Aura Biosciences during the third quarter worth about $913,000. Finally, Levin Capital Strategies L.P. raised its holdings in Aura Biosciences by 9.9% during the second quarter. Levin Capital Strategies L.P. now owns 1,495,560 shares of the company’s stock worth $9,362,000 after purchasing an additional 134,792 shares in the last quarter. 96.75% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Aura Biosciences Stock Down 3.2%

AURA stock opened at $5.75 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $365.13 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -2.96 and a beta of 0.46. Aura Biosciences has a fifty-two week low of $4.34 and a fifty-two week high of $8.27. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $5.75 and a 200 day moving average price of $6.06.

Aura Biosciences (NASDAQ:AURA) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, November 13th. The company reported ($0.40) earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.46) by $0.06. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Aura Biosciences will post -1.66 EPS for the current year.

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.