Aura Biosciences (NASDAQ:AURA) Issues Earnings Results

Aura Biosciences (NASDAQ:AURA) announced its earnings results on Monday. The company reported ($0.37) earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.43) by $0.06, FiscalAI reports.

Aura Biosciences Trading Up 7.9%

Shares of AURA stock opened at $6.69 on Wednesday. Aura Biosciences has a 12 month low of $4.34 and a 12 month high of $7.48. The stock has a market cap of $424.82 million, a P/E ratio of -3.74 and a beta of 0.45. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $5.88 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $5.86.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages recently commented on AURA. HC Wainwright reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $22.00 price objective on shares of Aura Biosciences in a report on Monday. Weiss Ratings reissued a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Aura Biosciences in a report on Friday. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $20.50.

Insider Buying and Selling at Aura Biosciences

In related news, CTO Mark Plavsic sold 15,890 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $5.05, for a total value of $80,244.50. Following the transaction, the chief technology officer directly owned 181,397 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $916,054.85. This trade represents a 8.05% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Conor Kilroy sold 12,079 shares of Aura Biosciences 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 transaction, the insider owned 167,234 shares in the company, valued at $844,531.70. This trade represents a 6.74% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 123,076 shares of company stock worth $618,783. Insiders own 6.30% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Aura Biosciences

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC lifted 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 valued at $40,000 after buying an additional 2,104 shares in the last quarter. Water Island Capital LLC purchased a new stake in Aura Biosciences in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $64,000. Invesco Ltd. purchased a new stake in Aura Biosciences in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $76,000. BNP Paribas Financial Markets raised its stake in Aura Biosciences by 286.6% during the 2nd quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 13,499 shares of the company’s stock worth $85,000 after acquiring an additional 10,007 shares during the period. Finally, Bridgeway Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in Aura Biosciences during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $102,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors 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.