Analysts Set Aura Biosciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:AURA) Target Price at $20.50

Aura Biosciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:AURA) has been given an average rating of “Moderate Buy” by the seven brokerages that are currently covering the stock, Marketbeat Ratings reports. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has assigned a hold rating, four have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating on the company. The average 1-year price target among brokerages that have covered the stock in the last year is $20.50.

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on AURA shares. Evercore ISI assumed coverage on shares of Aura Biosciences in a research note on Tuesday, November 25th. They issued an “outperform” rating on the stock. Weiss Ratings reissued a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Aura Biosciences in a report on Monday.

Insider Activity

In other news, CTO Mark Plavsic sold 12,169 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, October 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $6.35, for a total transaction of $77,273.15. Following the transaction, the chief technology officer directly owned 197,287 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,252,772.45. This represents a 5.81% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Los Pinos Elisabet De sold 9,049 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, October 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $6.35, for a total value of $57,461.15. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 474,391 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,012,382.85. This represents a 1.87% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last three months, insiders have sold 39,223 shares of company stock worth $233,155. 6.30% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Aura Biosciences

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Levin Capital Strategies L.P. lifted its stake in shares of Aura Biosciences by 9.9% in the 2nd quarter. Levin Capital Strategies L.P. now owns 1,495,560 shares of the company’s stock valued at $9,362,000 after acquiring an additional 134,792 shares during the last quarter. Acorn Capital Advisors LLC bought a new position in Aura Biosciences during the 1st quarter worth approximately $3,460,000. B Group Inc. increased its stake in Aura Biosciences by 21.2% in the 2nd quarter. B Group Inc. now owns 572,576 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,584,000 after purchasing an additional 100,000 shares during the period. Atria Investments Inc bought a new stake in Aura Biosciences in the second quarter valued at approximately $190,000. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. boosted 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 valued at $14,653,000 after purchasing an additional 130,221 shares during the period. 96.75% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Aura Biosciences Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:AURA opened at $6.04 on Wednesday. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $5.96 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $6.28. The company has a market cap of $383.54 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -3.11 and a beta of 0.44. Aura Biosciences has a one year low of $4.34 and a one year high of $8.60.

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

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.