Aura Biosciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:AURA) Given Average Rating of “Hold” by Analysts

Aura Biosciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:AURA) has been assigned a consensus recommendation of “Hold” from the five brokerages that are covering the firm, MarketBeat.com reports. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has assigned a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating on the company. The average twelve-month price objective among brokers that have covered the stock in the last year is $20.50.

Several research firms have recently commented on AURA. HC Wainwright reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $22.00 price target on shares of Aura Biosciences in a report on Monday. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Aura Biosciences in a research note on Friday, March 27th.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, SVP Amy Elazzouzi sold 8,549 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $5.06, for a total value of $43,257.94. Following the sale, the senior vice president owned 75,532 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $382,191.92. This trade represents a 10.17% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CTO Mark Plavsic sold 15,890 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $5.05, for a total transaction of $80,244.50. Following the transaction, the chief technology officer directly owned 181,397 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $916,054.85. The trade was a 8.05% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 123,076 shares of company stock worth $618,783. 6.30% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Aura Biosciences

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Permanent Capital Management LP acquired a new stake in Aura Biosciences in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $913,000. Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its position in 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 acquiring an additional 130,221 shares during the period. B Group Inc. boosted its position in Aura Biosciences by 21.2% during the 2nd quarter. B Group Inc. now owns 572,576 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,584,000 after acquiring an additional 100,000 shares during the period. Frazier Life Sciences Management L.P. bought a new position in shares of Aura Biosciences in the second quarter worth $31,926,000. Finally, Resolute Capital Asset Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of Aura Biosciences in the second quarter worth $570,000. 96.75% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Aura Biosciences Trading Down 2.4%

Shares of NASDAQ AURA opened at $6.54 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $419.54 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -3.65 and a beta of 0.35. Aura Biosciences has a twelve month low of $4.34 and a twelve month high of $7.48. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $5.92 and a 200-day simple moving average of $5.87.

Aura Biosciences (NASDAQ:AURA) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, March 30th. The company reported ($0.37) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.43) by $0.06. As a group, equities analysts predict that Aura Biosciences will post -1.66 earnings per share for the current year.

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.