Insider Selling: Aura Biosciences (NASDAQ:AURA) Major Shareholder Sells $39,044,986.80 in Stock

Aura Biosciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:AURA) major shareholder Matrix Capital Management Comp sold 6,922,870 shares of Aura Biosciences stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $5.64, for a total value of $39,044,986.80. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Major shareholders that own 10% or more of a company’s shares are required to disclose their sales and purchases with the SEC.

Aura Biosciences Stock Up 1.1%

Shares of AURA opened at $8.02 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $514.88 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -4.61 and a beta of 0.37. Aura Biosciences, Inc. has a 52-week low of $4.34 and a 52-week high of $9.53. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $6.84 and a 200 day moving average price of $6.11.

Aura Biosciences (NASDAQ:AURA) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, May 11th. The company reported ($0.50) EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.40) by ($0.10). On average, equities analysts anticipate that Aura Biosciences, Inc. will post -1.63 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

AURA has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Wall Street Zen raised Aura Biosciences from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, April 4th. HC Wainwright increased their price objective on Aura Biosciences from $22.00 to $24.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 29th. Leerink Partners set a $17.00 target price on shares of Aura Biosciences in a report on Tuesday. Finally, Weiss Ratings cut shares of Aura Biosciences from a “sell (d-)” rating to a “sell (e+)” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $20.00.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Levin Capital Strategies L.P. grew its stake in Aura Biosciences by 8.8% in the 3rd quarter. Levin Capital Strategies L.P. now owns 1,627,274 shares of the company’s stock valued at $10,057,000 after acquiring an additional 131,714 shares during the last quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Aura Biosciences by 130.4% in the first quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 5,665 shares of the company’s stock valued at $38,000 after purchasing an additional 3,206 shares during the last quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Aura Biosciences during the 4th quarter worth approximately $59,000. 49 Wealth Management LLC raised its position in shares of Aura Biosciences by 78.9% during the 4th quarter. 49 Wealth Management LLC now owns 18,984 shares of the company’s stock worth $103,000 after purchasing an additional 8,375 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Water Island Capital LLC purchased a new stake in Aura Biosciences in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $64,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 96.75% of the company’s stock.

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.