Aura Biosciences (NASDAQ:AURA) Receives “Market Outperform” Rating from JMP Securities

JMP Securities reissued their market outperform rating on shares of Aura Biosciences (NASDAQ:AURA) in a report released on Friday,Benzinga reports. They currently have a $19.00 price target on the stock.

A number of other research firms have also issued reports on AURA. HC Wainwright set a $25.00 target price on Aura Biosciences in a research note on Tuesday, March 25th. Lifesci Capital upgraded Aura Biosciences to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Citigroup reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of Aura Biosciences in a research note on Wednesday, March 26th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Aura Biosciences presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $22.75.

Aura Biosciences Trading Down 0.8%

NASDAQ AURA opened at $5.89 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $296.08 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -3.40 and a beta of 0.43. The business’s 50 day moving average is $5.76 and its two-hundred day moving average is $7.41. Aura Biosciences has a 12-month low of $4.35 and a 12-month high of $12.38.

Aura Biosciences (NASDAQ:AURA) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 15th. The company reported ($0.55) EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.47) by ($0.08). Equities analysts forecast that Aura Biosciences will post -1.66 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Anthony S. Gibney acquired 50,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 16th. The stock was bought at an average price of $4.90 per share, with a total value of $245,000.00. Following the purchase, the insider now directly owns 58,452 shares in the company, valued at $286,414.80. The trade was a 591.58% increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, insider Conor Kilroy sold 7,162 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $5.49, for a total transaction of $39,319.38. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 179,313 shares in the company, valued at approximately $984,428.37. The trade was a 3.84% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 9,578 shares of company stock valued at $52,067 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 5.40% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Aura Biosciences

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of AURA. American Century Companies Inc. raised its stake in Aura Biosciences by 8.3% during the first quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 51,657 shares of the company’s stock worth $303,000 after purchasing an additional 3,956 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of Aura Biosciences by 0.4% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,012,799 shares of the company’s stock worth $8,327,000 after buying an additional 3,972 shares during the period. Wells Fargo & Company MN boosted its holdings in Aura Biosciences by 27.3% in the fourth quarter. Wells Fargo & Company MN now owns 27,623 shares of the company’s stock valued at $227,000 after acquiring an additional 5,930 shares during the last quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets acquired a new position in Aura Biosciences in the fourth quarter valued at $50,000. Finally, Wellington Management Group LLP grew its position in Aura Biosciences by 6.0% during the first quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 138,952 shares of the company’s stock valued at $814,000 after acquiring an additional 7,898 shares during the period. 96.75% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.