Aura Biosciences (NASDAQ:AURA) Insider Sells $82,330.08 in Stock

Aura Biosciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:AURA) insider Anthony Gibney sold 12,824 shares of Aura Biosciences stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $6.42, for a total value of $82,330.08. Following the sale, the insider owned 265,354 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,703,572.68. This represents a 4.61% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards.

Aura Biosciences Stock Performance

Aura Biosciences stock traded down $0.17 during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching $6.28. 496,598 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 385,546. The company has a market capitalization of $649.29 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -3.61 and a beta of 0.39. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $7.23 and its 200-day simple moving average is $6.34. Aura Biosciences, Inc. has a 1 year low of $4.73 and a 1 year high of $9.53.

Aura Biosciences (NASDAQ:AURA) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, May 11th. The company reported ($0.50) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.40) by ($0.10). On average, analysts forecast that Aura Biosciences, Inc. will post -1.73 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

AURA has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Leerink Partners set a $17.00 price target on Aura Biosciences in a research note on Tuesday, May 12th. Weiss Ratings raised Aura Biosciences from a “sell (e+)” rating to a “sell (d-)” rating in a research note on Friday. HC Wainwright increased their price target on Aura Biosciences from $22.00 to $24.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 29th. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised Aura Biosciences from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, April 4th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $20.50.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Aura Biosciences

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of AURA. Nantahala Capital Management LLC raised its stake in Aura Biosciences by 67.1% during the second quarter. Nantahala Capital Management LLC now owns 2,117,697 shares of the company’s stock worth $13,257,000 after purchasing an additional 850,000 shares during the period. Millennium Management LLC raised its stake in Aura Biosciences by 233.3% during the fourth quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 617,338 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,364,000 after purchasing an additional 432,117 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in 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 purchasing an additional 413,001 shares during the period. Levin Capital Strategies L.P. raised its stake in Aura Biosciences by 8.8% during the third quarter. Levin Capital Strategies L.P. now owns 1,627,274 shares of the company’s stock worth $10,057,000 after purchasing an additional 131,714 shares during the period. Finally, Quantinno Capital Management LP raised its stake in Aura Biosciences by 150.3% during the first quarter. Quantinno Capital Management LP now owns 91,075 shares of the company’s stock worth $609,000 after purchasing an additional 54,694 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 96.75% of the company’s stock.

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.