Aura Biosciences (NASDAQ:AURA) Stock Rating Upgraded by Wall Street Zen

Aura Biosciences (NASDAQ:AURA) was upgraded by equities researchers at Wall Street Zen from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note issued to investors on Saturday.

Several other brokerages have also weighed in on AURA. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Aura Biosciences from a “sell (e+)” rating to a “sell (d-)” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 14th. Leerink Partners set a $17.00 target price on shares of Aura Biosciences in a research note on Tuesday, May 12th. Finally, HC Wainwright lifted 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. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $20.50.

Aura Biosciences Stock Performance

Aura Biosciences stock opened at $7.99 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $826.49 million, a P/E ratio of -4.59 and a beta of 0.40. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $6.93 and a 200-day moving average of $6.67. Aura Biosciences has a 52 week low of $4.73 and a 52 week high of $9.53.

Aura Biosciences (NASDAQ:AURA) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, May 11th. The company reported ($0.50) earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.40) by ($0.10). As a group, equities analysts predict that Aura Biosciences will post -1.73 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Aura Biosciences

In other news, insider Anthony S. Gibney sold 12,824 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, June 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $6.42, for a total transaction of $82,330.08. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 265,354 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,703,572.68. This represents a 4.61% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. 1.90% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Aura Biosciences

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. BlackRock Inc. acquired a new stake in Aura Biosciences in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $33,424,000. Nantahala Capital Management LLC grew its stake 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 worth $13,257,000 after purchasing an additional 850,000 shares in the last quarter. Millennium Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Aura Biosciences by 233.3% in 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 in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings 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 valued at $17,863,000 after purchasing an additional 413,001 shares during the period. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp acquired a new position in shares of Aura Biosciences during the second quarter valued at $842,000. 96.75% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.