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

Aura Biosciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:AURA) was the target of a significant growth in short interest during the month of April. As of April 15th, there was short interest totalling 1,950,000 shares, a growth of 37.3% from the March 31st total of 1,420,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 256,400 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 7.6 days. Approximately 4.4% of the shares of the stock are short sold.

Aura Biosciences Stock Up 4.1 %

Shares of AURA stock opened at $6.07 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $304.87 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -3.51 and a beta of 0.43. The business’s fifty day moving average is $6.33 and its 200 day moving average is $7.97. Aura Biosciences has a twelve month low of $4.84 and a twelve month high of $12.38.

Aura Biosciences (NASDAQ:AURA) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, March 24th. The company reported ($0.52) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.43) by ($0.09). Equities research analysts expect that Aura Biosciences will post -1.66 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Aura Biosciences

In other news, insider Conor Kilroy sold 7,162 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $5.49, for a total value of $39,319.38. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 179,313 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $984,428.37. The trade was a 3.84 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Insiders have sold 14,148 shares of company stock worth $91,434 over the last ninety days. Insiders own 5.40% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Aura Biosciences

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Long Focus Capital Management LLC grew its position in Aura Biosciences by 123.9% during the 4th quarter. Long Focus Capital Management LLC now owns 2,537,774 shares of the company’s stock valued at $20,861,000 after purchasing an additional 1,404,228 shares during the last quarter. Levin Capital Strategies L.P. lifted its stake in shares of Aura Biosciences by 169.1% in the fourth quarter. Levin Capital Strategies L.P. now owns 1,247,619 shares of the company’s stock worth $10,255,000 after buying an additional 783,984 shares in the last quarter. B Group Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Aura Biosciences during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $3,885,000. Franklin Resources Inc. increased its holdings 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 in the last quarter. Finally, Ensign Peak Advisors Inc raised its position in Aura Biosciences by 43.3% in the 4th quarter. Ensign Peak Advisors Inc now owns 390,695 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,212,000 after buying an additional 118,000 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 96.75% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on AURA shares. Citigroup restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Aura Biosciences in a report on Wednesday, March 26th. Lifesci Capital raised Aura Biosciences to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. JMP Securities set a $19.00 price objective on Aura Biosciences in a report on Wednesday, March 26th. Finally, HC Wainwright set a $25.00 target price on Aura Biosciences in a research note on Tuesday, March 25th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Aura Biosciences currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $22.75.

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.