Aura Biosciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:AURA) Sees Large Drop in Short Interest

Aura Biosciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:AURA) was the target of a significant decline in short interest in the month of November. As of November 15th, there was short interest totalling 947,100 shares, a decline of 16.2% from the October 31st total of 1,130,000 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 191,700 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 4.9 days. Approximately 2.2% of the shares of the company are short sold.

Insider Transactions at Aura Biosciences

In other Aura Biosciences news, CFO Julie B. Feder sold 25,131 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, October 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $12.03, for a total value of $302,325.93. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 134,276 shares in the company, valued at $1,615,340.28. This represents a 15.77 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Janet Jill Hopkins sold 11,822 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $9.36, for a total value of $110,653.92. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 151,693 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,419,846.48. This trade represents a 7.23 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 79,081 shares of company stock worth $891,353. Company insiders own 5.40% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Aura Biosciences

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. American Century Companies Inc. bought a new position in Aura Biosciences in the second quarter valued at approximately $119,000. American International Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Aura Biosciences by 27.4% during the first quarter. American International Group Inc. now owns 17,579 shares of the company’s stock worth $138,000 after purchasing an additional 3,782 shares in the last quarter. Virtu Financial LLC bought a new position in shares of Aura Biosciences during the first quarter worth $144,000. SG Americas Securities LLC bought a new position in shares of Aura Biosciences during the third quarter worth $169,000. Finally, Rhumbline Advisers boosted its position in shares of Aura Biosciences by 39.6% during the second quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 63,483 shares of the company’s stock worth $480,000 after purchasing an additional 18,011 shares in the last quarter. 96.75% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have issued reports on AURA. Scotiabank upped their price target on Aura Biosciences from $20.00 to $23.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a report on Friday, October 18th. Lifesci Capital raised Aura Biosciences to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, September 9th. BTIG Research upped their price target on Aura Biosciences from $21.00 to $24.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, October 18th. HC Wainwright reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $22.00 price target on shares of Aura Biosciences in a report on Thursday, November 14th. Finally, Evercore ISI raised Aura Biosciences to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, September 16th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $23.00.

Aura Biosciences Trading Up 3.4 %

NASDAQ:AURA traded up $0.31 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $9.31. 144,237 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 180,448. Aura Biosciences has a fifty-two week low of $6.63 and a fifty-two week high of $12.38. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $9.73 and a 200 day moving average price of $8.63. The firm has a market cap of $465.03 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -5.38 and a beta of 0.33.

Aura Biosciences (NASDAQ:AURA) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, November 12th. The company reported ($0.42) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.44) by $0.02. Research analysts predict that Aura Biosciences will post -1.66 EPS for the current year.

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.