Aura Biosciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:AURA) Receives $20.50 Average Target Price from Brokerages

Aura Biosciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:AURA) has been given an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by the six ratings firms that are presently covering the company, MarketBeat reports. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has assigned a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average 1-year price target among brokerages that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $20.50.

AURA has been the topic of several recent research reports. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Aura Biosciences in a research report on Monday, December 29th. Evercore started coverage on Aura Biosciences in a research note on Tuesday, November 25th. They issued an “outperform” rating for the company.

Aura Biosciences Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:AURA opened at $5.75 on Thursday. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $5.70 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $6.02. The stock has a market capitalization of $365.13 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -2.96 and a beta of 0.46. Aura Biosciences has a 52-week low of $4.34 and a 52-week high of $8.16.

Aura Biosciences (NASDAQ:AURA) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Aura Biosciences will post -1.66 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Los Pinos Elisabet De sold 16,928 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $4.86, for a total value of $82,270.08. Following the transaction, the insider owned 457,463 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,223,270.18. This trade represents a 3.57% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Janet Jill Hopkins sold 17,109 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 252,685 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,369,552.70. This represents a 6.34% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold 35,618 shares of company stock worth $182,685 in the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 6.30% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Permanent Capital Management LP purchased a new position in Aura Biosciences in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $913,000. Levin Capital Strategies L.P. boosted its position in shares of Aura Biosciences by 9.9% during the second quarter. Levin Capital Strategies L.P. now owns 1,495,560 shares of the company’s stock worth $9,362,000 after acquiring an additional 134,792 shares during the last quarter. B Group Inc. grew its stake in 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. Franklin Resources Inc. increased its holdings in Aura Biosciences by 5.9% in the 2nd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 2,340,810 shares of the company’s stock valued at $14,653,000 after acquiring an additional 130,221 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Atria Investments Inc purchased a new stake in Aura Biosciences in the 2nd quarter worth $190,000. Institutional investors own 96.75% of the company’s stock.

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.