Wall Street Zen Downgrades Aura Biosciences (NASDAQ:AURA) to Sell

Aura Biosciences (NASDAQ:AURA) was downgraded by Wall Street Zen from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report issued on Sunday.

Several other research firms also recently commented on AURA. Weiss Ratings downgraded shares of Aura Biosciences from a “sell (d-)” rating to a “sell (e+)” rating in a report on Monday, June 29th. Leerink Partners set a $17.00 target price on shares of Aura Biosciences in a research note on Tuesday, May 12th. Finally, HC Wainwright upped their price target on shares of Aura Biosciences from $22.00 to $24.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 29th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Aura Biosciences has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $20.50.

Aura Biosciences Trading Down 2.3%

Shares of AURA traded down $0.16 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $6.84. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 442,809 shares, compared to its average volume of 704,288. Aura Biosciences has a 1-year low of $4.73 and a 1-year high of $9.53. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $7.20 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $6.42. The stock has a market cap of $707.19 million, a P/E ratio of -3.93 and a beta of 0.40.

Aura Biosciences (NASDAQ:AURA) last posted its earnings results on Monday, May 11th. The company reported ($0.50) earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.40) by ($0.10). Research analysts anticipate that Aura Biosciences will post -1.73 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Aura Biosciences

In other Aura Biosciences news, major shareholder Matrix Capital Management Comp sold 6,922,870 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $5.64, for a total value of $39,044,986.80. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, insider Anthony S. Gibney sold 12,824 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, June 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $6.42, for a total value of $82,330.08. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 265,354 shares in the company, valued at $1,703,572.68. This represents a 4.61% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Insiders sold 6,947,432 shares of company stock valued at $39,209,718 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 1.90% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Aura Biosciences

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Parallel Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Aura Biosciences by 130.4% in the 1st quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 5,665 shares of the company’s stock valued at $38,000 after buying an additional 3,206 shares in the last quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC boosted its position in shares of Aura Biosciences by 49.3% during the 2nd quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 6,372 shares of the company’s stock worth $40,000 after acquiring an additional 2,104 shares in the last quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC bought a new position in Aura Biosciences in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $59,000. Water Island Capital LLC bought a new position in Aura Biosciences in the third quarter valued at approximately $64,000. Finally, Invesco Ltd. acquired a new position in Aura Biosciences during the second quarter valued at approximately $76,000. 96.75% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.