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

Shares of Aura Biosciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:AURA) have received an average rating of “Hold” from the five research firms that are currently covering the company, Marketbeat Ratings reports. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has assigned a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average twelve-month price objective among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $20.50.

Separately, Weiss Ratings restated a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Aura Biosciences in a report on Monday, December 29th.

Aura Biosciences Price Performance

AURA opened at $6.44 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $408.94 million, a PE ratio of -3.32 and a beta of 0.45. The business’s 50-day moving average is $5.79 and its two-hundred day moving average is $5.87. Aura Biosciences has a 1 year low of $4.34 and a 1 year high of $7.48.

Insider Activity at Aura Biosciences

In other news, insider Conor Kilroy sold 12,079 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $5.05, for a total transaction of $60,998.95. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 167,234 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $844,531.70. This represents a 6.74% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Los Pinos Elisabet De sold 47,648 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $5.06, for a total value of $241,098.88. Following the sale, the insider owned 409,815 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,073,663.90. This represents a 10.42% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold a total of 123,076 shares of company stock valued at $618,783 over the last three months. Company insiders own 6.30% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Permanent Capital Management LP purchased a new stake in Aura Biosciences in the third quarter valued at about $913,000. Franklin Resources Inc. grew its stake in shares of Aura Biosciences by 5.9% during the second quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 2,340,810 shares of the company’s stock worth $14,653,000 after acquiring an additional 130,221 shares during the last quarter. B Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Aura Biosciences by 21.2% during the second quarter. B Group Inc. now owns 572,576 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,584,000 after acquiring an additional 100,000 shares in the last quarter. Frazier Life Sciences Management L.P. acquired a new position in shares of Aura Biosciences during the second quarter valued at about $31,926,000. Finally, Resolute Capital Asset Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of Aura Biosciences in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $570,000. 96.75% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.