2,500,000 Shares in Aura Biosciences, Inc. $AURA Acquired by Jupiter Topco LLC

Jupiter Topco LLC bought a new stake in shares of Aura Biosciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:AURA) in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor bought 2,500,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $17,788,000. Jupiter Topco LLC owned about 2.41% of Aura Biosciences as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. BlackRock Inc. purchased a new position in Aura Biosciences in the second quarter worth $33,424,000. Nantahala Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Aura Biosciences by 67.1% during the 2nd quarter. Nantahala Capital Management LLC now owns 2,117,697 shares of the company’s stock valued at $13,257,000 after purchasing an additional 850,000 shares during the last quarter. AWM Investment Company Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Aura Biosciences in the 2nd quarter worth $4,198,000. Millennium Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Aura Biosciences by 233.3% in the 4th quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 617,338 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,364,000 after purchasing an additional 432,117 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in Aura Biosciences by 16.7% during the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 2,890,503 shares of the company’s stock worth $17,863,000 after buying an additional 413,001 shares during the last quarter. 96.75% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have commented on AURA shares. Leerink Partners set a $17.00 price target on Aura Biosciences in a research note on Tuesday, May 12th. HC Wainwright dropped their price target on Aura Biosciences from $24.00 to $18.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, August 11th. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Aura Biosciences from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Sunday, August 16th. Finally, Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Aura Biosciences from a “sell (e+)” rating to a “sell (d-)” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 14th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Aura Biosciences presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $17.50.

Aura Biosciences Stock Down 3.9%

Shares of NASDAQ AURA opened at $7.40 on Friday. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $7.31 and its 200 day moving average price is $6.89. The firm has a market cap of $767.45 million, a P/E ratio of -4.23 and a beta of 0.40. Aura Biosciences, Inc. has a 52 week low of $4.73 and a 52 week high of $9.53.

Aura Biosciences (NASDAQ:AURA) last issued its quarterly earnings results 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). As a group, research analysts expect that Aura Biosciences, Inc. will post -1.61 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity at Aura Biosciences

In other news, insider Anthony S. Gibney sold 12,824 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 16th. The shares were 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 ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. 1.90% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Aura Biosciences 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.