HC Wainwright Lowers Aura Biosciences (NASDAQ:AURA) Price Target to $18.00

Aura Biosciences (NASDAQ:AURA) had its target price cut by HC Wainwright from $24.00 to $18.00 in a research note issued on Tuesday,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a “buy” rating on the stock. HC Wainwright’s target price suggests a potential upside of 131.10% from the company’s current price.

AURA has been the subject of a number of other research reports. Weiss Ratings upgraded Aura Biosciences from a “sell (e+)” rating to a “sell (d-)” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 14th. Leerink Partners set a $17.00 price objective on shares of Aura Biosciences in a report on Tuesday, May 12th. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Aura Biosciences from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $17.50.

Aura Biosciences Stock Performance

Aura Biosciences stock traded up $0.09 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, hitting $7.79. 373,203 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 428,770. Aura Biosciences has a one year low of $4.73 and a one year high of $9.53. The stock has a market cap of $805.69 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -4.43 and a beta of 0.40. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $6.94 and a 200-day moving average price of $6.69.

Aura Biosciences (NASDAQ:AURA) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 11th. The company reported ($0.48) earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.38) by ($0.10). Sell-side analysts predict that Aura Biosciences will post -1.73 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Anthony S. Gibney sold 12,824 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the insider owned 265,354 shares in the company, valued at $1,703,572.68. This represents a 4.61% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Insiders own 1.90% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Aura Biosciences

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of AURA. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC grew its position in Aura Biosciences by 49.3% in the 2nd 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 period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its position in Aura Biosciences by 12.3% during the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 24,557 shares of the company’s stock valued at $152,000 after buying an additional 2,693 shares during the period. Parallel Advisors LLC grew its position in Aura Biosciences by 130.4% during the first quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 5,665 shares of the company’s stock valued at $38,000 after buying an additional 3,206 shares during the period. Barclays PLC increased its holdings in Aura Biosciences by 6.7% during the fourth quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 69,298 shares of the company’s stock valued at $378,000 after buying an additional 4,366 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Intech Investment Management LLC increased its holdings in Aura Biosciences by 35.9% during the fourth quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 20,993 shares of the company’s stock valued at $114,000 after buying an additional 5,541 shares during the last quarter. 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.