Aura Biosciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:AURA) Sees Significant Decline in Short Interest

Aura Biosciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:AURA) saw a significant decrease in short interest during the month of February. As of February 28th, there was short interest totalling 1,120,000 shares, a decrease of 13.2% from the February 13th total of 1,290,000 shares. Approximately 2.5% of the company’s stock are sold short. Based on an average daily volume of 158,600 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 7.1 days.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Los Pinos Elisabet De sold 15,955 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $7.67, for a total transaction of $122,374.85. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 304,692 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,336,987.64. This trade represents a 4.98 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Insiders sold a total of 23,045 shares of company stock worth $177,242 over the last quarter. Insiders own 5.40% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Aura Biosciences

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of Aura Biosciences by 2.7% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 138,356 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,233,000 after acquiring an additional 3,612 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Aura Biosciences by 0.4% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,012,799 shares of the company’s stock valued at $8,327,000 after acquiring an additional 3,972 shares during the period. Wells Fargo & Company MN boosted its position in shares of Aura Biosciences by 27.3% in the fourth quarter. Wells Fargo & Company MN now owns 27,623 shares of the company’s stock valued at $227,000 after acquiring an additional 5,930 shares during the period. BNP Paribas Financial Markets purchased a new stake in Aura Biosciences in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $50,000. Finally, Bank of America Corp DE raised its stake in Aura Biosciences by 20.5% in the fourth quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 51,286 shares of the company’s stock valued at $422,000 after purchasing an additional 8,709 shares in the last quarter. 96.75% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Aura Biosciences Stock Down 1.6 %

Shares of NASDAQ:AURA opened at $7.42 on Wednesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $370.64 million, a PE ratio of -4.29 and a beta of 0.30. Aura Biosciences has a twelve month low of $6.63 and a twelve month high of $12.38. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $7.68 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $8.67.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Separately, Lifesci Capital upgraded shares of Aura Biosciences to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Five analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus 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.