Aura Biosciences (NASDAQ:AURA) Stock Price Down 4.9% After Insider Selling

Shares of Aura Biosciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:AURA) traded down 4.9% on Tuesday following insider selling activity. The company traded as low as $11.01 and last traded at $11.08. 53,228 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 70% from the average session volume of 175,820 shares. The stock had previously closed at $11.65.

Specifically, CFO Julie B. Feder sold 25,131 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, October 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $12.03, for a total transaction of $302,325.93. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 134,276 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,615,340.28. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Los Pinos Elisabet De sold 24,992 shares of Aura Biosciences stock in a transaction on Friday, October 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $12.04, for a total value of $300,903.68. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 329,847 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,971,357.88. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In other news, CTO Mark Plavsic sold 7,383 shares of Aura Biosciences stock in a transaction on Wednesday, October 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $9.85, for a total value of $72,722.55. Following the completion of the sale, the chief technology officer now owns 121,132 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,193,150.20. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on the company. JMP Securities lifted their target price on Aura Biosciences from $19.00 to $23.00 and gave the company a “market outperform” rating in a report on Friday, September 13th. BTIG Research lifted their target price on Aura Biosciences from $21.00 to $24.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday. Cowen reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Aura Biosciences in a report on Friday. Lifesci Capital upgraded Aura Biosciences to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, September 9th. Finally, Scotiabank boosted their price objective on Aura Biosciences from $20.00 to $23.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a research note on Friday. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Aura Biosciences has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $23.00.

Aura Biosciences Price Performance

The company has a market capitalization of $548.94 million, a P/E ratio of -6.26 and a beta of 0.37. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $8.74 and a 200 day moving average price of $8.10.

Aura Biosciences (NASDAQ:AURA) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 8th. The company reported ($0.41) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.45) by $0.04. On average, equities research analysts predict that Aura Biosciences, Inc. will post -1.7 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Aura Biosciences

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Long Focus Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Aura Biosciences by 113.4% during the 2nd quarter. Long Focus Capital Management LLC now owns 1,057,188 shares of the company’s stock valued at $7,992,000 after acquiring an additional 561,766 shares during the last quarter. Levin Capital Strategies L.P. increased its position in Aura Biosciences by 194.5% during the second quarter. Levin Capital Strategies L.P. now owns 327,466 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,476,000 after buying an additional 216,266 shares during the last quarter. Regency Capital Management Inc. DE increased its position in Aura Biosciences by 11.4% during the first quarter. Regency Capital Management Inc. DE now owns 785,136 shares of the company’s stock worth $6,163,000 after buying an additional 80,162 shares during the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its position in Aura Biosciences by 51.4% during the second quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 143,027 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,081,000 after buying an additional 48,549 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its holdings in Aura Biosciences by 20.0% during the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 250,375 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,892,000 after acquiring an additional 41,711 shares during the period. 96.75% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.