Aura Biosciences (NASDAQ:AURA) Releases Earnings Results, Misses Expectations By $0.10 EPS

Aura Biosciences (NASDAQ:AURA) issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday. The company reported ($0.50) EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.40) by ($0.10), Zacks reports.

Aura Biosciences Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ AURA traded down $0.29 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $7.91. The stock had a trading volume of 206,720 shares, compared to its average volume of 347,882. The company has a market capitalization of $507.50 million, a P/E ratio of -4.40 and a beta of 0.37. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $6.76 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $6.08. Aura Biosciences has a 52 week low of $4.34 and a 52 week high of $9.53.

Analyst Ratings Changes

AURA has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. HC Wainwright boosted their price objective on Aura Biosciences from $22.00 to $24.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 29th. Weiss Ratings restated a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Aura Biosciences in a report on Friday, March 27th. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded Aura Biosciences from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, April 4th. Three 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 stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $21.50.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, SVP Amy Elazzouzi sold 8,549 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $5.06, for a total value of $43,257.94. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president owned 75,532 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $382,191.92. The trade was a 10.17% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Los Pinos Elisabet De sold 47,648 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $5.06, for a total value of $241,098.88. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 409,815 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,073,663.90. The trade was a 10.42% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold a total of 7,039,175 shares of company stock worth $39,656,217 in the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 6.30% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Aura Biosciences

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in AURA. Dynamic Technology Lab Private Ltd bought a new stake in Aura Biosciences during the first quarter worth approximately $137,000. Invesco Ltd. bought a new stake in Aura Biosciences during the second quarter worth approximately $76,000. Nantahala Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of 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 buying an additional 850,000 shares during the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Aura Biosciences by 31.1% during the second quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 84,558 shares of the company’s stock worth $529,000 after buying an additional 20,065 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bridgeway Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Aura Biosciences during the second quarter worth approximately $102,000. 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.