Brokerages Set Aura Biosciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:AURA) PT at $20.50

Aura Biosciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:AURA) has been given an average recommendation of “Hold” by the five brokerages that are currently covering the company, MarketBeat reports. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has given a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average 1 year target price among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $20.50.

Separately, Weiss Ratings reissued a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Aura Biosciences in a research report on Monday, December 29th.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Los Pinos Elisabet De sold 47,648 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $5.06, for a total transaction of $241,098.88. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 409,815 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,073,663.90. This represents a 10.42% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Conor Kilroy sold 12,079 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $5.05, for a total value of $60,998.95. Following the transaction, the insider owned 167,234 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $844,531.70. This trade represents a 6.74% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold 123,076 shares of company stock worth $618,783 in the last 90 days. Company insiders own 6.30% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in AURA. Permanent Capital Management LP purchased a new position in Aura Biosciences during the 3rd quarter worth $913,000. Franklin Resources Inc. grew its position in shares of Aura Biosciences by 5.9% during the 2nd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 2,340,810 shares of the company’s stock worth $14,653,000 after buying an additional 130,221 shares in the last quarter. B Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of 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 buying an additional 100,000 shares during the period. Frazier Life Sciences Management L.P. bought a new stake in shares of Aura Biosciences in the second quarter valued at about $31,926,000. Finally, Resolute Capital Asset Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of Aura Biosciences in the second quarter valued at about $570,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 96.75% of the company’s stock.

Aura Biosciences Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:AURA opened at $6.27 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $398.15 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -3.23 and a beta of 0.45. Aura Biosciences has a 12 month low of $4.34 and a 12 month high of $7.48. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $5.82 and a 200 day moving average price of $5.86.

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.