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

Shares of Aura Biosciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:AURA) have earned a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” from the six brokerages that are currently covering the firm, MarketBeat reports. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, one has issued a hold recommendation and four have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1 year target price among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $20.50.

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

Aura Biosciences Stock Down 3.2%

Aura Biosciences stock opened at $5.75 on Thursday. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $5.75 and a 200-day simple moving average of $6.06. The firm has a market capitalization of $365.13 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -2.96 and a beta of 0.46. Aura Biosciences has a 52-week low of $4.34 and a 52-week high of $8.27.

Aura Biosciences (NASDAQ:AURA) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, November 13th. The company reported ($0.40) EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.46) by $0.06. On average, research analysts anticipate that Aura Biosciences will post -1.66 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Los Pinos Elisabet De sold 16,928 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $4.86, for a total value of $82,270.08. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 457,463 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,223,270.18. This trade represents a 3.57% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Janet Jill Hopkins sold 17,109 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $5.42, for a total value of $92,730.78. Following the sale, the insider owned 252,685 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,369,552.70. This trade represents a 6.34% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold 35,618 shares of company stock worth $182,685 in the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 6.30% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Aura Biosciences

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in AURA. 49 Wealth Management LLC grew its holdings in Aura Biosciences by 78.9% during the 4th quarter. 49 Wealth Management LLC now owns 18,984 shares of the company’s stock worth $103,000 after acquiring an additional 8,375 shares in the last quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. grew its stake in shares of Aura Biosciences by 24.5% during the fourth quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 32,977 shares of the company’s stock worth $180,000 after purchasing an additional 6,481 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its stake in shares of Aura Biosciences by 12.3% during the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 24,557 shares of the company’s stock worth $152,000 after purchasing an additional 2,693 shares in the last quarter. Water Island Capital LLC purchased a new position in Aura Biosciences in the third quarter valued at $64,000. Finally, Prelude Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in Aura Biosciences in the third quarter valued at $309,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.