Aura Biosciences (NASDAQ:AURA) Earns Buy Rating from HC Wainwright

HC Wainwright reiterated their buy rating on shares of Aura Biosciences (NASDAQ:AURA) in a research report sent to investors on Thursday morning,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a $22.00 price target on the stock.

Several other brokerages have also commented on AURA. Lifesci Capital upgraded shares of Aura Biosciences to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, September 9th. JMP Securities increased their price objective on Aura Biosciences from $19.00 to $23.00 and gave the stock a “market outperform” rating in a report on Friday, September 13th. Cowen reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Aura Biosciences in a research note on Friday, October 18th. Evercore ISI raised Aura Biosciences to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, September 16th. Finally, Scotiabank upped their price target on shares of Aura Biosciences from $20.00 to $23.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, October 18th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $23.00.

Aura Biosciences Price Performance

Shares of AURA opened at $9.47 on Thursday. Aura Biosciences has a 12 month low of $6.63 and a 12 month high of $12.38. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $9.82 and a 200 day moving average price of $8.54. The company has a market cap of $473.03 million, a P/E ratio of -5.47 and a beta of 0.33.

Aura Biosciences (NASDAQ:AURA) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, November 12th. The company reported ($0.42) EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.44) by $0.02. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Aura Biosciences will post -1.69 earnings per share for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CFO Julie B. Feder sold 25,131 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, October 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $12.03, for a total transaction of $302,325.93. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 134,276 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,615,340.28. This trade represents a 15.77 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CTO Mark Plavsic sold 7,383 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, October 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $9.85, for a total transaction of $72,722.55. Following the completion of the sale, the chief technology officer now owns 121,132 shares in the company, valued at $1,193,150.20. The trade was a 5.74 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 67,259 shares of company stock worth $780,699. 5.40% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Aura Biosciences

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. American Century Companies Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Aura Biosciences during the second quarter worth $119,000. American International Group Inc. raised its holdings in Aura Biosciences by 27.4% during the 1st quarter. American International Group Inc. now owns 17,579 shares of the company’s stock worth $138,000 after buying an additional 3,782 shares during the period. Virtu Financial LLC purchased a new stake in Aura Biosciences during the first quarter valued at about $144,000. SG Americas Securities LLC purchased a new stake in Aura Biosciences during the third quarter valued at about $169,000. Finally, Rhumbline Advisers boosted its holdings in shares of Aura Biosciences by 39.6% in the second quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 63,483 shares of the company’s stock worth $480,000 after buying an additional 18,011 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 96.75% of the company’s stock.

About Aura Biosciences

Aura Biosciences, Inc, a clinical-stage biotechnology company, develops precision immunotherapies to treat a range of solid tumors. The company's proprietary platform enables the targeting of a range of solid tumors using virus-like particles conjugated with drugs or loaded with nucleic acids to create virus-like drug conjugates.