Wall Street Zen Downgrades Aurora Innovation (NASDAQ:AUR) to Strong Sell

Aurora Innovation (NASDAQ:AUR) was downgraded by analysts at Wall Street Zen from a “sell” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research note issued on Saturday.

Other equities analysts have also issued research reports about the stock. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $12.00 price target on shares of Aurora Innovation in a report on Thursday, July 23rd. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price objective on shares of Aurora Innovation from $4.00 to $5.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, April 17th. Morgan Stanley reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $14.00 target price on shares of Aurora Innovation in a research report on Thursday, May 7th. Craig Hallum started coverage on Aurora Innovation in a research note on Friday, June 5th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $18.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Needham & Company LLC restated a “buy” rating and set a $13.00 price target on shares of Aurora Innovation in a research report on Thursday, May 7th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have given a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $12.22.

Aurora Innovation Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ AUR opened at $6.45 on Friday. The business has a 50-day moving average of $6.44 and a 200-day moving average of $5.47. The firm has a market capitalization of $12.65 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -13.72 and a beta of 2.64. Aurora Innovation has a 12 month low of $3.60 and a 12 month high of $8.56.

Aurora Innovation (NASDAQ:AUR) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, July 29th. The company reported ($0.14) earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.12) by ($0.02). Aurora Innovation had a negative net margin of 18,000.00% and a negative return on equity of 43.94%. The company had revenue of $2.00 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.66 million. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned ($0.11) earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 100.0% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts predict that Aurora Innovation will post -0.49 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity at Aurora Innovation

In related news, Director David M. Wehner bought 82,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, June 11th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $6.04 per share, for a total transaction of $498,300.00. Following the acquisition, the director directly owned 246,519 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,488,974.76. The trade was a 50.30% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Reid Hoffman sold 5,498,487 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $7.81, for a total value of $42,943,183.47. Following the transaction, the director owned 77,500 shares in the company, valued at approximately $605,275. The trade was a 98.61% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold 7,048,487 shares of company stock worth $54,295,119 over the last three months. Insiders own 8.52% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Aurora Innovation

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Garton & Associates Financial Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Aurora Innovation in the fourth quarter worth $35,000. Danske Bank A S purchased a new stake in shares of Aurora Innovation during the third quarter worth about $36,000. Eurizon Capital SGR S.p.A. purchased a new stake in shares of Aurora Innovation during the fourth quarter worth about $39,000. Stonebridge Financial Group LLC MO bought a new stake in shares of Aurora Innovation in the fourth quarter worth about $40,000. Finally, Equitable Holdings Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Aurora Innovation in the fourth quarter worth about $41,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 44.71% of the company’s stock.

About Aurora Innovation

Aurora Innovation, Inc is a technology company specializing in the development of self-driving vehicle systems for both passenger and commercial applications. Headquartered in Mountain View, California, Aurora has built an end-to-end platform—known as the Aurora Driver—that integrates proprietary software, machine learning algorithms and a suite of sensors (LiDAR, radar and cameras) to enable vehicles to operate safely and efficiently in diverse driving environments.

The company’s core business revolves around designing, testing and deploying its autonomy stack on vehicles from established automotive and transportation partners.