Aura Biosciences’ (AURA) Buy Rating Reiterated at HC Wainwright

HC Wainwright restated their buy rating on shares of Aura Biosciences (NASDAQ:AURA) in a report released on Monday,Benzinga reports. They currently have a $22.00 price target on the stock.

Separately, Weiss Ratings reissued a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Aura Biosciences in a report on Friday, March 27th. Three 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. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Aura Biosciences presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $20.50.

Aura Biosciences Stock Performance

AURA stock opened at $6.70 on Monday. The company has a market cap of $429.81 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -3.74 and a beta of 0.35. The business’s 50-day moving average is $5.90 and its two-hundred day moving average is $5.87. Aura Biosciences has a fifty-two week low of $4.34 and a fifty-two week high of $7.48.

Aura Biosciences (NASDAQ:AURA) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, March 30th. The company reported ($0.37) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.43) by $0.06. Equities analysts predict that Aura Biosciences will post -1.66 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity at Aura Biosciences

In other Aura Biosciences news, insider Janet Jill Hopkins sold 20,401 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $5.06, for a total transaction of $103,229.06. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 232,284 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,175,357.04. The trade was a 8.07% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, SVP Amy Elazzouzi sold 8,549 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $5.06, for a total value of $43,257.94. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 75,532 shares in the company, valued at $382,191.92. This trade represents a 10.17% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold 123,076 shares of company stock valued at $618,783 in the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 6.30% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Aura Biosciences

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Frazier Life Sciences Management L.P. bought a new stake in Aura Biosciences during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $31,926,000. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Aura Biosciences by 16.7% in the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 2,890,503 shares of the company’s stock worth $17,863,000 after purchasing an additional 413,001 shares during the period. Nantahala Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Aura Biosciences by 67.1% in the second quarter. Nantahala Capital Management LLC now owns 2,117,697 shares of the company’s stock worth $13,257,000 after purchasing an additional 850,000 shares in the last quarter. Levin Capital Strategies L.P. increased its stake in shares of Aura Biosciences by 8.8% in the third quarter. Levin Capital Strategies L.P. now owns 1,627,274 shares of the company’s stock worth $10,057,000 after purchasing an additional 131,714 shares in the last quarter. Finally, State Street Corp raised its position in shares of Aura Biosciences by 5.4% during the 4th quarter. State Street Corp now owns 926,534 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,050,000 after purchasing an additional 47,663 shares during the period. 96.75% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.