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

Aura Biosciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:AURA) was the recipient of a large increase in short interest during the month of December. As of December 31st, there was short interest totalling 1,280,000 shares, an increase of 20.8% from the December 15th total of 1,060,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 206,600 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 6.2 days. Currently, 2.9% of the shares of the company are short sold.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Janet Jill Hopkins sold 11,822 shares of the 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 transaction, the insider now directly owns 151,693 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,419,846.48. This represents a 7.23 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Los Pinos Elisabet De sold 9,200 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, October 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $10.74, for a total transaction of $98,808.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 320,647 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,443,748.78. The trade was a 2.79 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 21,575 shares of company stock valued at $215,401 in the last quarter. Insiders own 5.40% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Aura Biosciences

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its position in Aura Biosciences by 107.5% during the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 53,502 shares of the company’s stock worth $477,000 after buying an additional 27,718 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its position in shares of Aura Biosciences by 14.8% in the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 1,668,960 shares of the company’s stock worth $15,571,000 after purchasing an additional 215,597 shares during the period. Barclays PLC boosted its stake in shares of Aura Biosciences by 256.5% in the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 61,010 shares of the company’s stock valued at $544,000 after purchasing an additional 43,897 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of Aura Biosciences by 4.1% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,008,827 shares of the company’s stock worth $8,990,000 after buying an additional 39,379 shares during the period. Finally, Wellington Management Group LLP bought a new position in Aura Biosciences during the third quarter worth $1,037,000. 96.75% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Aura Biosciences Stock Up 1.3 %

Shares of AURA traded up $0.10 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $7.77. The company had a trading volume of 112,088 shares, compared to its average volume of 132,090. The firm has a market cap of $388.11 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -4.49 and a beta of 0.30. The business has a fifty day moving average of $8.68 and a 200-day moving average of $8.88. Aura Biosciences has a 12 month low of $6.63 and a 12 month high of $12.38.

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts recently commented on the company. HC Wainwright reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $22.00 price objective on shares of Aura Biosciences in a research report on Thursday, November 14th. Cowen reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Aura Biosciences in a research report on Friday, October 18th. BTIG Research boosted their price target on shares of Aura Biosciences from $21.00 to $24.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, October 18th. Finally, Scotiabank raised their price objective on shares of Aura Biosciences from $20.00 to $23.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, October 18th. 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 a consensus price target of $23.00.

Aura Biosciences Company Profile

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.