Aura Biosciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:AURA) Receives Average Rating of “Moderate Buy” from Analysts

Aura Biosciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:AURA) has been given an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by the six analysts that are presently covering the firm, Marketbeat.com reports. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, one has given a hold recommendation and four have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average 1-year price target among brokers that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $20.50.

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on AURA shares. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Aura Biosciences in a research report on Monday, December 29th. Evercore started coverage on shares of Aura Biosciences in a research note on Tuesday, November 25th. They set an “outperform” rating on the stock.

Aura Biosciences Trading Down 1.5%

Shares of NASDAQ AURA opened at $5.89 on Monday. The stock has a market cap of $374.02 million, a P/E ratio of -3.04 and a beta of 0.45. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $5.51 and its 200-day simple moving average is $5.90. Aura Biosciences has a 12-month low of $4.34 and a 12-month high of $7.73.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Los Pinos Elisabet De sold 47,648 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $5.06, for a total value of $241,098.88. Following the transaction, the insider owned 409,815 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,073,663.90. This represents a 10.42% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Conor Kilroy sold 12,079 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction 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 completion of the sale, the insider owned 167,234 shares in the company, valued at approximately $844,531.70. This represents a 6.74% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 123,076 shares of company stock worth $618,783. Corporate insiders own 6.30% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC raised its position in shares of Aura Biosciences by 49.3% during the 2nd quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 6,372 shares of the company’s stock worth $40,000 after acquiring an additional 2,104 shares in the last quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Aura Biosciences in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $59,000. Water Island Capital LLC purchased a new position in Aura Biosciences in the third quarter valued at approximately $64,000. 49 Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in Aura Biosciences in the third quarter valued at approximately $66,000. Finally, Invesco Ltd. acquired a new stake in Aura Biosciences during the second quarter worth approximately $76,000. 96.75% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.