Aura Biosciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:AURA) Given Consensus Rating of "Buy" by Analysts

Key Points

• Aura Biosciences, Inc. has received a consensus recommendation of "Buy" from eight research firms, with an average 1-year price target of $22.00.
• Significant insider activity includes Director David Michael Johnson purchasing 20,000 shares at $4.90 each and insider Anthony S. Gibney acquiring 50,000 shares, both on May 16th, 2023.
• Institutional investors own 96.75% of Aura Biosciences, with Vanguard Group increasing its stake by 6.2% in the last quarter.

Shares of Aura Biosciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:AURA - Get Free Report) have earned a consensus recommendation of "Buy" from the eight research firms that are currently covering the stock, Marketbeat.com reports. Six analysts have rated the stock with a buy recommendation and two have issued a strong buy recommendation on the company. The average 1-year price objective among brokers that have covered the stock in the last year is $22.00.

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on AURA. JMP Securities reaffirmed a "market outperform" rating and set a $19.00 price target on shares of Aura Biosciences in a research note on Friday, May 23rd. HC Wainwright reaffirmed a "buy" rating and set a $22.00 price target on shares of Aura Biosciences in a research note on Wednesday.

Insider Buying and Selling at Aura Biosciences

In other news, Director David Michael Johnson bought 20,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 16th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $4.90 per share, with a total value of $98,000.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director owned 166,167 shares of the company's stock, valued at $814,218.30. This represents a 13.68% increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Anthony S. Gibney bought 50,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 16th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $4.90 per share, with a total value of $245,000.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the insider directly owned 58,452 shares of the company's stock, valued at $286,414.80. This represents a 591.58% increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 6.30% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Aura Biosciences

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in AURA. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Aura Biosciences by 6.2% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,917,730 shares of the company's stock valued at $15,764,000 after buying an additional 112,296 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its holdings in Aura Biosciences by 76.4% during the 4th quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 94,386 shares of the company's stock valued at $776,000 after purchasing an additional 40,884 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in Aura Biosciences by 0.4% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,012,799 shares of the company's stock valued at $8,327,000 after purchasing an additional 3,972 shares during the last quarter. Wells Fargo & Company MN lifted its holdings in Aura Biosciences by 27.3% during the 4th quarter. Wells Fargo & Company MN now owns 27,623 shares of the company's stock valued at $227,000 after purchasing an additional 5,930 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Renaissance Technologies LLC lifted its holdings in Aura Biosciences by 489.4% during the 4th quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 83,700 shares of the company's stock valued at $688,000 after purchasing an additional 69,500 shares during the last quarter. 96.75% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Aura Biosciences Stock Performance

NASDAQ AURA opened at $7.23 on Thursday. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $6.60 and a 200 day simple moving average of $6.55. Aura Biosciences has a 52-week low of $4.34 and a 52-week high of $12.38. The stock has a market cap of $363.45 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -3.81 and a beta of 0.46.

Aura Biosciences (NASDAQ:AURA - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, May 15th. The company reported ($0.55) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of ($0.47) by ($0.08). On average, analysts predict that Aura Biosciences will post -1.66 EPS for the current year.

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.

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