Aura Biosciences (NASDAQ:AURA) Issues Earnings Results, Beats Expectations By $0.06 EPS

Aura Biosciences (NASDAQ:AURA) released its earnings results on Tuesday. The company reported ($0.40) EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.46) by $0.06, Zacks reports.

Aura Biosciences Stock Down 1.7%

Shares of Aura Biosciences stock traded down $0.09 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $5.48. The company had a trading volume of 56,252 shares, compared to its average volume of 227,475. Aura Biosciences has a 12-month low of $4.34 and a 12-month high of $10.48. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $6.04 and a 200 day simple moving average of $6.23. The stock has a market cap of $340.29 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -2.79 and a beta of 0.45.

Insider Activity at Aura Biosciences

In related news, insider Los Pinos Elisabet De sold 9,049 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, October 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $6.35, for a total value of $57,461.15. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 474,391 shares in the company, valued at $3,012,382.85. This trade represents a 1.87% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, SVP Amy Elazzouzi sold 7,722 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $6.70, for a total value of $51,737.40. Following the sale, the senior vice president owned 86,558 shares in the company, valued at approximately $579,938.60. The trade was a 8.19% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold a total of 29,836 shares of company stock valued at $192,161 in the last ninety days. Company insiders own 6.30% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Aura Biosciences

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in AURA. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its position in Aura Biosciences by 9.0% during the third quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 497,275 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,073,000 after buying an additional 41,118 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Aura Biosciences by 16.7% in the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 2,890,503 shares of the company’s stock valued at $17,863,000 after purchasing an additional 413,001 shares in the last quarter. Nantahala Capital Management LLC boosted its position 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 acquiring an additional 850,000 shares during the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. increased its position in Aura Biosciences by 31.1% during the second quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 84,558 shares of the company’s stock worth $529,000 after purchasing an additional 20,065 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Gallagher Fiduciary Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Aura Biosciences during the second quarter worth about $189,000. 96.75% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have issued reports on AURA shares. HC Wainwright reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $22.00 target price on shares of Aura Biosciences in a report on Wednesday, August 13th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Aura Biosciences in a report on Tuesday. Finally, Zacks Research upgraded Aura Biosciences from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 19th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have issued a Buy rating, one has assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $20.50.

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.