Aura Biosciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:AURA) Given Consensus Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by Analysts

Aura Biosciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:AURA) has earned a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” from the seven analysts that are currently covering the stock, MarketBeat.com reports. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, one has given a hold recommendation, four have given a buy recommendation and one has assigned a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 1-year price objective among brokerages that have covered the stock in the last year is $20.50.

A number of analysts have commented on AURA shares. Evercore ISI assumed coverage on shares of Aura Biosciences in a research note on Tuesday. They set an “outperform” rating for the company. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Aura Biosciences from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 19th. HC Wainwright reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $22.00 price target on shares of Aura Biosciences in a research report on Wednesday, August 13th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reiterated a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Aura Biosciences in a research note on Monday.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CTO Mark Plavsic sold 12,169 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, October 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $6.35, for a total value of $77,273.15. Following the completion of the sale, the chief technology officer directly owned 197,287 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,252,772.45. This represents a 5.81% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Janet Jill Hopkins sold 17,109 shares of Aura Biosciences stock in a transaction on Monday, November 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $5.42, for a total transaction of $92,730.78. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 252,685 shares in the company, valued at $1,369,552.70. This represents a 6.34% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 39,223 shares of company stock worth $233,155. 6.30% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Levin Capital Strategies L.P. lifted its position in shares of Aura Biosciences by 9.9% during the 2nd quarter. Levin Capital Strategies L.P. now owns 1,495,560 shares of the company’s stock worth $9,362,000 after buying an additional 134,792 shares in the last quarter. Acorn Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Aura Biosciences during the first quarter valued at approximately $3,460,000. Atria Investments Inc purchased a new stake in shares of Aura Biosciences during the second quarter valued at approximately $190,000. Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its holdings in 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 period. Finally, Nuveen LLC purchased a new position in Aura Biosciences in the first quarter worth $561,000. 96.75% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Aura Biosciences Trading Up 3.5%

AURA stock traded up $0.23 during trading on Friday, reaching $6.61. 217,173 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 210,229. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $5.91 and its 200 day moving average is $6.23. The firm has a market cap of $419.44 million, a P/E ratio of -3.40 and a beta of 0.45. Aura Biosciences has a twelve month low of $4.34 and a twelve month high of $9.53.

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

About Aura Biosciences

Aura Biosciences, Inc, a clinical-stage biotechnology company, develops precision immunotherapies to treat a range of solid tumors. The company's proprietary platform enables the targeting of a range of solid tumors using virus-like particles conjugated with drugs or loaded with nucleic acids to create virus-like drug conjugates.