Aura Biosciences (NASDAQ:AURA) Rating Increased to Hold at Wall Street Zen
by Kim Johansen · The Markets DailyWall Street Zen upgraded shares of Aura Biosciences (NASDAQ:AURA – Free Report) from a sell rating to a hold rating in a research report released on Saturday.
Several other research firms also recently weighed in on AURA. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Aura Biosciences in a research report on Friday, March 27th. HC Wainwright restated a “buy” rating and issued a $22.00 price target on shares of Aura Biosciences in a research report on Monday, March 30th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Aura Biosciences has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $20.50.
Check Out Our Latest Analysis on Aura Biosciences
Aura Biosciences Stock Performance
Shares of AURA stock opened at $6.54 on Friday. Aura Biosciences has a 12 month low of $4.34 and a 12 month high of $7.48. The stock has a market cap of $419.54 million, a P/E ratio of -3.65 and a beta of 0.35. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $5.93 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $5.87.
Aura Biosciences (NASDAQ:AURA – Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, March 30th. The company reported ($0.37) earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.43) by $0.06. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Aura Biosciences will post -1.66 earnings per share for the current year.
Insiders Place Their Bets
In related news, insider Los Pinos Elisabet De sold 47,648 shares of Aura Biosciences stock in a transaction on 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 owned 409,815 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,073,663.90. The trade was a 10.42% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, SVP Amy Elazzouzi sold 8,549 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $5.06, for a total transaction of $43,257.94. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 75,532 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $382,191.92. This represents a 10.17% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 123,076 shares of company stock valued at $618,783. Insiders own 6.30% of the company’s stock.
Institutional Investors Weigh In On Aura Biosciences
A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of AURA. Frazier Life Sciences Management L.P. purchased a new position in shares of Aura Biosciences in the second quarter valued at about $31,926,000. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in Aura Biosciences by 16.7% during the 3rd 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. Nantahala Capital Management LLC raised its stake in Aura Biosciences by 67.1% during the 2nd quarter. Nantahala Capital Management LLC now owns 2,117,697 shares of the company’s stock valued at $13,257,000 after purchasing an additional 850,000 shares during the period. Levin Capital Strategies L.P. lifted its holdings in Aura Biosciences by 8.8% in the 3rd 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 in the last quarter. Finally, State Street Corp lifted its holdings in Aura Biosciences by 5.4% in the 4th quarter. State Street Corp now owns 926,534 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,050,000 after purchasing an additional 47,663 shares in the last quarter. 96.75% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.
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.