Insider Selling: Aura Biosciences (NASDAQ:AURA) Insider Sells $103,229.06 in Stock

Aura Biosciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:AURA) insider Janet Jill Hopkins sold 20,401 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $5.06, for a total transaction of $103,229.06. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 232,284 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,175,357.04. The trade was a 8.07% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link.

Aura Biosciences Trading Up 6.3%

Shares of NASDAQ:AURA opened at $5.36 on Friday. The company has a 50 day moving average of $5.55 and a 200-day moving average of $5.95. The firm has a market cap of $340.36 million, a P/E ratio of -2.76 and a beta of 0.46. Aura Biosciences, Inc. has a twelve month low of $4.34 and a twelve month high of $7.80.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Evercore initiated coverage on Aura Biosciences in a report on Tuesday, November 25th. They issued an “outperform” rating for the company. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Aura Biosciences in a report on Monday, December 29th. Four equities research 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’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $20.50.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Aura Biosciences

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. XTX Topco Ltd increased its stake in Aura Biosciences by 145.2% in the 4th quarter. XTX Topco Ltd now owns 60,811 shares of the company’s stock worth $331,000 after purchasing an additional 36,006 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its stake in Aura Biosciences by 10.7% during the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 140,959 shares of the company’s stock valued at $768,000 after buying an additional 13,647 shares in the last quarter. Millennium Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Aura Biosciences by 233.3% in the fourth quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 617,338 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,364,000 after buying an additional 432,117 shares during the period. Trexquant Investment LP acquired a new position in shares of Aura Biosciences in the fourth quarter worth about $234,000. Finally, ExodusPoint Capital Management LP increased its position in shares of Aura Biosciences by 18.4% in the fourth quarter. ExodusPoint Capital Management LP now owns 51,419 shares of the company’s stock worth $280,000 after acquiring an additional 7,998 shares in the last quarter. 96.75% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.