Aura Biosciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:AURA) Given Consensus Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by Analysts

Shares of Aura Biosciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:AURA) have received a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” from the seven brokerages that are covering the stock, Marketbeat.com reports. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has assigned a hold rating, four have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. The average 12 month target price among brokerages that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $20.50.

Several analysts recently issued reports on AURA shares. Weiss Ratings reissued a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Aura Biosciences in a research note on Monday, December 29th. Evercore ISI assumed coverage on shares of Aura Biosciences in a research report on Tuesday, November 25th. They set an “outperform” rating on the stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Los Pinos Elisabet De sold 9,049 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, October 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $6.35, for a total transaction of $57,461.15. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 474,391 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,012,382.85. This trade represents a 1.87% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Janet Jill Hopkins sold 17,109 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $5.42, for a total value of $92,730.78. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 252,685 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,369,552.70. The trade was a 6.34% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold a total of 27,054 shares of company stock valued at $155,882 over the last three months. Corporate insiders own 6.30% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Aura Biosciences

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of AURA. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC raised its stake in shares of Aura Biosciences by 49.3% in the second quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 6,372 shares of the company’s stock worth $40,000 after purchasing an additional 2,104 shares during the last quarter. Water Island Capital LLC acquired a new position in Aura Biosciences in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $64,000. 49 Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in Aura Biosciences during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $66,000. Invesco Ltd. acquired a new stake in Aura Biosciences during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $76,000. Finally, China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. boosted its holdings in shares of Aura Biosciences by 24.3% in the 2nd quarter. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 12,453 shares of the company’s stock valued at $78,000 after acquiring an additional 2,434 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 96.75% of the company’s stock.

Aura Biosciences Price Performance

AURA opened at $5.11 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $324.49 million, a P/E ratio of -2.63 and a beta of 0.46. Aura Biosciences has a 1-year low of $4.34 and a 1-year high of $8.27. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $5.77 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $6.16.

Aura Biosciences (NASDAQ:AURA) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, November 13th. The company reported ($0.40) earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.46) by $0.06. Equities analysts anticipate 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.