Short Interest in Aura Biosciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:AURA) Drops By 16.2%

Aura Biosciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:AURA) was the recipient of a large decline in short interest in 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. Currently, 2.2% of the shares of the stock are short sold. Based on an average trading volume of 191,700 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 4.9 days.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

AURA has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. 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. BTIG Research raised their target price on Aura Biosciences from $21.00 to $24.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, October 18th. Evercore ISI raised shares of Aura Biosciences to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, September 16th. Lifesci Capital upgraded shares of Aura Biosciences to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, September 9th. Finally, Scotiabank lifted 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. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Aura Biosciences currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $23.00.

Insider Buying and Selling at Aura Biosciences

In related news, CTO Mark Plavsic sold 7,383 shares of Aura Biosciences stock in a transaction on Wednesday, October 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $9.85, for a total value of $72,722.55. Following the completion of the sale, the chief technology officer now owns 121,132 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,193,150.20. This trade represents a 5.74 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CFO Julie B. Feder sold 25,131 shares of the business’s 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 sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 134,276 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,615,340.28. The trade was a 15.77 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 79,081 shares of company stock valued at $891,353 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 5.40% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. American International Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Aura Biosciences by 27.4% in the first quarter. American International Group Inc. now owns 17,579 shares of the company’s stock worth $138,000 after acquiring an additional 3,782 shares during the period. Virtu Financial LLC purchased a new stake in Aura Biosciences during the 1st quarter worth about $144,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its holdings in Aura Biosciences by 51.4% during the 2nd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 143,027 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,081,000 after buying an additional 48,549 shares in the last quarter. Rhumbline Advisers increased 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 valued at $480,000 after buying an additional 18,011 shares during the period. Finally, Levin Capital Strategies L.P. lifted its holdings in shares of Aura Biosciences by 194.5% in the second quarter. Levin Capital Strategies L.P. now owns 327,466 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,476,000 after buying an additional 216,266 shares in the last quarter. 96.75% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Aura Biosciences Trading Down 1.3 %

Shares of AURA stock traded down $0.12 on Monday, hitting $9.19. 38,218 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 179,825. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $9.73 and its two-hundred day moving average is $8.65. Aura Biosciences has a one year low of $6.63 and a one year high of $12.38. The firm has a market capitalization of $459.05 million, a PE ratio of -5.38 and a beta of 0.33.

Aura Biosciences (NASDAQ:AURA) last issued 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, sell-side analysts expect that Aura Biosciences will post -1.66 earnings per share for the current year.

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.