Analysts Set Aura Biosciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:AURA) PT at $23.00

Shares of Aura Biosciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:AURA) have been assigned an average recommendation of “Buy” from the seven brokerages that are presently covering the stock, MarketBeat reports. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a buy recommendation and two have issued a strong buy recommendation on the company. The average 12-month price objective among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $23.00.

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on AURA shares. HC Wainwright restated a “buy” rating and set a $22.00 price objective on shares of Aura Biosciences in a research note on Thursday, November 14th. Cowen reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Aura Biosciences in a report on Friday, October 18th. Evercore ISI upgraded Aura Biosciences to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, September 16th. Scotiabank upped their price objective on shares of Aura Biosciences from $20.00 to $23.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, October 18th. Finally, JMP Securities raised 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.

Aura Biosciences Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ AURA opened at $8.72 on Friday. Aura Biosciences has a 52-week low of $6.63 and a 52-week high of $12.38. The stock has a market cap of $435.56 million, a P/E ratio of -5.04 and a beta of 0.27. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $9.70 and a 200 day moving average price of $8.71.

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

Insider Activity at Aura Biosciences

In other news, insider Janet Jill Hopkins sold 11,822 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, November 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $9.36, for a total transaction of $110,653.92. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 151,693 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,419,846.48. This represents a 7.23 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, 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 completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 134,276 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,615,340.28. This represents a 15.77 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 79,081 shares of company stock valued at $891,353 over the last 90 days. Insiders own 5.40% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Aura Biosciences

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. American Century Companies Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Aura Biosciences during the second quarter valued at approximately $119,000. SG Americas Securities LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Aura Biosciences in the 3rd quarter worth about $169,000. Rhumbline Advisers increased its stake in shares of Aura Biosciences by 39.6% during the second quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 63,483 shares of the company’s stock valued at $480,000 after purchasing an additional 18,011 shares in the last quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company increased its position in Aura Biosciences by 14.6% during the 2nd quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 64,452 shares of the company’s stock valued at $487,000 after buying an additional 8,194 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Barclays PLC raised its position in shares of Aura Biosciences by 256.5% in the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 61,010 shares of the company’s stock worth $544,000 after purchasing an additional 43,897 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 96.75% of the company’s stock.

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.