Aura Biosciences (NASDAQ:AURA) Stock Price Up 8.2% – What’s Next?

Aura Biosciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:AURA)’s share price traded up 8.2% during mid-day trading on Thursday . The company traded as high as $7.11 and last traded at $7.2810. Approximately 53,833 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 87% from the average daily volume of 413,304 shares. The stock had previously closed at $6.73.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have commented on AURA. HC Wainwright boosted their target price on Aura Biosciences from $22.00 to $24.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 29th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Aura Biosciences from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, April 4th. Leerink Partners set a $17.00 price objective on shares of Aura Biosciences in a research note on Tuesday, May 12th. Finally, Weiss Ratings cut shares of Aura Biosciences from a “sell (d-)” rating to a “sell (e+)” rating in a research note on Monday. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $20.50.

Aura Biosciences Trading Up 7.8%

The firm has a market capitalization of $750.20 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -4.18 and a beta of 0.40. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $7.19 and its 200 day moving average is $6.37.

Aura Biosciences (NASDAQ:AURA) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, May 11th. The company reported ($0.50) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.40) by ($0.10). Analysts predict that Aura Biosciences, Inc. will post -1.73 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, major shareholder Matrix Capital Management Comp sold 6,922,870 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $5.64, for a total value of $39,044,986.80. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Anthony S. Gibney sold 12,824 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $6.42, for a total value of $82,330.08. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 265,354 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,703,572.68. This represents a 4.61% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Insiders have sold a total of 6,947,432 shares of company stock valued at $39,209,718 over the last 90 days. 6.30% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Aura Biosciences

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in AURA. Dynamic Technology Lab Private Ltd bought a new position in shares of Aura Biosciences during the first quarter worth about $137,000. Invesco Ltd. acquired a new position in shares of Aura Biosciences in the second quarter worth approximately $76,000. Nantahala Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in Aura Biosciences by 67.1% in the second quarter. Nantahala Capital Management LLC now owns 2,117,697 shares of the company’s stock valued at $13,257,000 after acquiring an additional 850,000 shares during the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. boosted its holdings in Aura Biosciences by 31.1% in the second quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 84,558 shares of the company’s stock valued at $529,000 after acquiring an additional 20,065 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bridgeway Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in Aura Biosciences in the second quarter valued at approximately $102,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 96.75% of the company’s stock.

Aura Biosciences Company Profile

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.