Aura Biosciences (NASDAQ:AURA) Upgraded at Wall Street Zen

Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Aura Biosciences (NASDAQ:AURA) from a sell rating to a hold rating in a report issued on Saturday.

Other analysts also recently issued research reports about the company. HC Wainwright upped 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. Weiss Ratings raised Aura Biosciences from a “sell (e+)” rating to a “sell (d-)” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 14th. Finally, Leerink Partners set a $17.00 price objective on Aura Biosciences in a research note on Tuesday, May 12th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Aura Biosciences currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $20.50.

Aura Biosciences Price Performance

NASDAQ:AURA opened at $7.70 on Friday. Aura Biosciences has a one year low of $4.73 and a one year high of $9.53. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $6.94 and its 200 day simple moving average is $6.69. The firm has a market capitalization of $796.49 million, a P/E ratio of -4.43 and a beta of 0.40.

Aura Biosciences (NASDAQ:AURA) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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). On average, equities research analysts expect that Aura Biosciences will post -1.73 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Aura Biosciences news, insider Anthony S. Gibney sold 12,824 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $6.42, for a total transaction of $82,330.08. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 265,354 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,703,572.68. This trade represents a 4.61% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Corporate insiders own 1.90% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Aura Biosciences

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. BlackRock Inc. purchased a new position in Aura Biosciences in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $33,424,000. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted 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 last quarter. Nantahala Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Aura Biosciences by 67.1% in the 2nd 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. State Street Corp increased its holdings in shares of 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. Finally, UBS Group AG raised its stake in shares of Aura Biosciences by 0.6% in the third quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 896,811 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,542,000 after purchasing an additional 5,783 shares during the last quarter. 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.