Anthony S. Gibney Acquires 50,000 Shares of Aura Biosciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:AURA) Stock

Aura Biosciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:AURA) insider Anthony S. Gibney acquired 50,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 16th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $4.90 per share, with a total value of $245,000.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 58,452 shares in the company, valued at $286,414.80. This trade represents a 591.58% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link.

Aura Biosciences Stock Up 0.2%

Shares of NASDAQ:AURA traded up $0.01 during trading on Tuesday, reaching $5.93. 217,370 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 210,068. Aura Biosciences, Inc. has a 1-year low of $4.35 and a 1-year high of $12.38. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $5.88 and a 200 day simple moving average of $7.49. The firm has a market cap of $298.10 million, a P/E ratio of -3.43 and a beta of 0.43.

Aura Biosciences (NASDAQ:AURA) last released its earnings results on Thursday, May 15th. The company reported ($0.55) EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.47) by ($0.08). As a group, research analysts anticipate that Aura Biosciences, Inc. will post -1.66 EPS for the current year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have commented on the stock. JMP Securities set a $19.00 price target on shares of Aura Biosciences in a report on Wednesday, March 26th. HC Wainwright set a $25.00 price target on shares of Aura Biosciences in a research report on Tuesday, March 25th. Citigroup reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of Aura Biosciences in a report on Wednesday, March 26th. Finally, Lifesci Capital upgraded shares of Aura Biosciences to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $22.75.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Aura Biosciences

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Long Focus Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Aura Biosciences by 30.8% during the first quarter. Long Focus Capital Management LLC now owns 3,319,582 shares of the company’s stock worth $19,453,000 after purchasing an additional 781,808 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Aura Biosciences by 6.2% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,917,730 shares of the company’s stock valued at $15,764,000 after acquiring an additional 112,296 shares in the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. raised its stake in shares of Aura Biosciences by 3.2% during the 4th quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 1,723,063 shares of the company’s stock worth $14,164,000 after purchasing an additional 54,103 shares in the last quarter. Levin Capital Strategies L.P. raised its position in Aura Biosciences by 9.1% during the first quarter. Levin Capital Strategies L.P. now owns 1,360,768 shares of the company’s stock worth $7,974,000 after acquiring an additional 113,149 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in Aura Biosciences by 0.4% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,012,799 shares of the company’s stock worth $8,327,000 after purchasing an additional 3,972 shares during the period. 96.75% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.