Aurora Innovation (NASDAQ:AUR) Shares Down 7.3% – What’s Next?

Shares of Aurora Innovation, Inc. (NASDAQ:AUR) dropped 7.3% on Wednesday . The stock traded as low as $6.67 and last traded at $6.70. Approximately 9,191,085 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 61% from the average daily volume of 23,532,799 shares. The stock had previously closed at $7.23.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on the company. Cantor Fitzgerald restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $12.00 price objective on shares of Aurora Innovation in a research note on Thursday, July 23rd. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $13.00 target price on shares of Aurora Innovation in a research report on Thursday, May 7th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Aurora Innovation in a research report on Friday, July 17th. TD Cowen lifted their target price on shares of Aurora Innovation from $4.70 to $7.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 7th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price target on shares of Aurora Innovation from $4.00 to $5.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, April 17th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have issued a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Aurora Innovation has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $12.22.

Aurora Innovation Stock Down 6.2%

The business’s 50-day moving average price is $6.44 and its 200 day moving average price is $5.50. The company has a market capitalization of $13.31 billion, a P/E ratio of -14.39 and a beta of 2.64.

Aurora Innovation (NASDAQ:AUR) last posted 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 return on equity of 43.94% and a negative net margin of 18,000.00%.The firm had revenue of $2.00 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.66 million. During the same period last year, the company posted ($0.11) EPS. The business’s revenue was up 100.0% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts anticipate that Aurora Innovation, Inc. will post -0.48 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Reid Hoffman sold 5,498,487 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 sale, the director owned 77,500 shares in the company, valued at approximately $605,275. This trade represents a 98.61% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director David M. Wehner acquired 82,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, June 11th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $6.04 per share, with a total value of $498,300.00. Following the purchase, the director directly owned 246,519 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,488,974.76. This trade represents a 50.30% increase in their position. The SEC filing for this purchase provides additional information. Insiders have sold a total of 7,048,487 shares of company stock valued at $54,295,119 over the last 90 days. Company insiders own 8.52% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Aurora Innovation

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in AUR. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Aurora Innovation by 12.5% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 160,567,323 shares of the company’s stock worth $616,579,000 after purchasing an additional 17,818,179 shares during the last quarter. DNB Asset Management AS raised its stake in Aurora Innovation by 93.0% in the fourth quarter. DNB Asset Management AS now owns 1,037,510 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,984,000 after purchasing an additional 499,935 shares in the last quarter. Clare Market Investments LLC bought a new stake in Aurora Innovation during the first quarter valued at approximately $2,697,000. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in Aurora Innovation by 6.6% during the fourth quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. now owns 274,809,541 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,055,269,000 after purchasing an additional 16,933,373 shares during the last quarter. Finally, State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D grew its stake in Aurora Innovation by 55.7% in the 4th quarter. State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D now owns 566,105 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,174,000 after buying an additional 202,504 shares in the last quarter. 44.71% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.