Aura Biosciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:AURA) Short Interest Update

Aura Biosciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:AURA) was the recipient of a large decrease in short interest during the month of October. As of October 15th, there was short interest totalling 1,050,000 shares, a decrease of 8.7% from the September 30th total of 1,150,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 184,900 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 5.7 days. Approximately 2.5% of the shares of the stock are sold short.

Insider Activity

In other Aura Biosciences news, CFO Julie B. Feder sold 25,131 shares of Aura Biosciences stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, October 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $12.03, for a total transaction of $302,325.93. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly 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 legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In related news, CFO Julie B. Feder sold 25,131 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 134,276 shares in the company, valued at $1,615,340.28. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CTO Mark Plavsic sold 7,383 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, October 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $9.85, for a total transaction of $72,722.55. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief technology officer now owns 121,132 shares in the company, valued at $1,193,150.20. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 67,259 shares of company stock worth $780,699. 5.40% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Aura Biosciences

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. American Century Companies Inc. purchased a new stake in Aura Biosciences during the second quarter valued at approximately $119,000. American International Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Aura Biosciences by 27.4% during the 1st quarter. American International Group Inc. now owns 17,579 shares of the company’s stock valued at $138,000 after acquiring an additional 3,782 shares during the period. Virtu Financial LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Aura Biosciences in the 1st quarter worth $144,000. SG Americas Securities LLC bought a new position in Aura Biosciences in the 3rd quarter worth $169,000. Finally, Rhumbline Advisers raised its holdings in Aura Biosciences by 39.6% in the 2nd quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 63,483 shares of the company’s stock worth $480,000 after purchasing an additional 18,011 shares during the period. 96.75% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Aura Biosciences Stock Up 0.8 %

Shares of Aura Biosciences stock opened at $10.44 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $517.89 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -5.83 and a beta of 0.37. Aura Biosciences has a twelve month low of $5.99 and a twelve month high of $12.38. The company’s 50 day moving average is $9.16 and its 200 day moving average is $8.27.

Aura Biosciences (NASDAQ:AURA) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, August 8th. The company reported ($0.41) earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.45) by $0.04. Sell-side analysts expect that Aura Biosciences will post -1.7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts recently commented on AURA shares. JMP Securities upped 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. Evercore ISI upgraded shares of Aura Biosciences to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, September 16th. Lifesci Capital raised shares of Aura Biosciences to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, September 9th. HC Wainwright lifted their price target on Aura Biosciences from $21.00 to $22.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, October 18th. Finally, Scotiabank raised their price objective on Aura Biosciences from $20.00 to $23.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, October 18th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $23.00.

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.