Aurora Innovation (NASDAQ:AUR) Shares Gap Up – Still a Buy?

Shares of Aurora Innovation, Inc. (NASDAQ:AUR) gapped up prior to trading on Tuesday . The stock had previously closed at $6.27, but opened at $6.61. Aurora Innovation shares last traded at $6.63, with a volume of 1,740,240 shares trading hands.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

AUR has been the subject of a number of research reports. TD Cowen lifted their target price on Aurora Innovation from $3.00 to $4.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Evercore ISI boosted their price objective on Aurora Innovation from $3.00 to $5.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a research report on Monday, October 14th. Canaccord Genuity Group upped their target price on Aurora Innovation from $7.00 to $10.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their target price on Aurora Innovation from $2.00 to $2.50 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a research report on Monday, November 4th. Finally, Wolfe Research started coverage on Aurora Innovation in a research report on Tuesday, November 26th. They issued a “peer perform” rating for the company. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Aurora Innovation has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $6.30.

Aurora Innovation Stock Performance

The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $6.65 and its 200-day simple moving average is $5.35. The company has a market capitalization of $11.74 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -13.94 and a beta of 2.85.

Insider Transactions at Aurora Innovation

In other Aurora Innovation news, Director Reid Hoffman sold 3,500,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $5.58, for a total transaction of $19,530,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 382,425 shares in the company, valued at $2,133,931.50. This represents a 90.15 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Gloria R. Boyland sold 30,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $6.30, for a total transaction of $189,000.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 344,647 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,171,276.10. This trade represents a 8.01 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 8,776,667 shares of company stock valued at $48,432,337. 13.83% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in AUR. Rhumbline Advisers raised its position in shares of Aurora Innovation by 114.7% during the second quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 1,160,176 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,214,000 after buying an additional 619,791 shares during the last quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. raised its position in Aurora Innovation by 8.1% in the second quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 102,199 shares of the company’s stock worth $283,000 after purchasing an additional 7,624 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its position in Aurora Innovation by 23.1% in the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 13,337,429 shares of the company’s stock worth $36,941,000 after purchasing an additional 2,502,002 shares in the last quarter. Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI acquired a new position in Aurora Innovation in the second quarter worth about $67,000. Finally, Primecap Management Co. CA raised its position in Aurora Innovation by 1.0% in the second quarter. Primecap Management Co. CA now owns 10,217,700 shares of the company’s stock worth $28,303,000 after purchasing an additional 102,800 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 44.71% of the company’s stock.

Aurora Innovation Company Profile

Aurora Innovation, Inc operates as a self-driving technology company in the United States. It focuses on developing Aurora Driver, a platform that brings a suite of self-driving hardware, software, and data services together to adapt and interoperate vehicles. The company was founded in 2017 and is headquartered in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.