Aurora Innovation (NASDAQ:AUR) Trading Down 6.8% - Here's What Happened

Key Points

• Aurora Innovation shares fell 6.8% to about $5.82 in Monday’s midday trading, with volume below the stock’s average session volume.
• Analyst views remain mixed: the consensus rating is Hold with an average price target of $12.22, while recent targets range from $7 to $18 and include both “strong sell” and “buy” recommendations.
• The company missed quarterly EPS expectations, reporting a $0.14 loss per share versus a projected $0.12 loss, although revenue reached $2 million and doubled year over year. Insiders have sold $53.6 million of stock over the past 90 days, despite one director purchasing 82,500 shares.

Aurora Innovation, Inc. (NASDAQ:AUR - Get Free Report)'s share price was down 6.8% during mid-day trading on Monday . The stock traded as low as $5.86 and last traded at $5.8160. 14,899,531 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 38% from the average session volume of 24,000,678 shares. The stock had previously closed at $6.24.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

AUR has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Wall Street Zen cut Aurora Innovation from a "sell" rating to a "strong sell" rating in a report on Saturday, August 1st. Weiss Ratings reiterated a "sell (d-)" rating on shares of Aurora Innovation in a research report on Friday, July 17th. Northland Securities started coverage on Aurora Innovation in a research note on Friday, May 29th. They issued an "outperform" rating and a $11.00 price objective on the stock. Craig Hallum started coverage on Aurora Innovation in a report on Friday, June 5th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $18.00 price objective for the company. Finally, TD Cowen raised their target price on Aurora Innovation from $4.70 to $7.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 7th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have given a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $12.22.

Aurora Innovation Stock Performance

The firm has a market capitalization of $11.41 billion, a P/E ratio of -12.12 and a beta of 2.64. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $6.43 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $5.70.

Aurora Innovation (NASDAQ:AUR - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, July 29th. The company reported ($0.14) EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.12) by ($0.02). The company had revenue of $2.00 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.66 million. Aurora Innovation had a negative net margin of 18,000.00% and a negative return on equity of 43.94%. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 100.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned ($0.11) earnings per share. Equities research analysts forecast that Aurora Innovation, Inc. will post -0.48 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director David M. Wehner acquired 82,500 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, June 11th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $6.04 per share, with a total value of $498,300.00. Following the purchase, the director owned 246,519 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,488,974.76. This trade represents a 50.30% increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Michelangelo Volpi sold 2,842,682 shares of Aurora Innovation stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $7.00, for a total transaction of $19,898,774.00. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold a total of 7,593,107 shares of company stock worth $53,567,492 over the last ninety days. 8.52% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of AUR. Garton & Associates Financial Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Aurora Innovation in the 4th quarter worth about $35,000. Danske Bank A S purchased a new position in Aurora Innovation during the 3rd quarter valued at about $36,000. Eurizon Capital SGR S.p.A. acquired a new position in shares of Aurora Innovation in the 4th quarter valued at about $39,000. Stonebridge Financial Group LLC MO acquired a new position in shares of Aurora Innovation in the 4th quarter valued at about $40,000. Finally, Equitable Holdings Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Aurora Innovation in the fourth quarter worth approximately $41,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 44.71% of the company's stock.

About Aurora Innovation

Aurora Innovation, Inc is a technology company specializing in the development of self-driving vehicle systems for both passenger and commercial applications. Headquartered in Mountain View, California, Aurora has built an end-to-end platform—known as the Aurora Driver—that integrates proprietary software, machine learning algorithms and a suite of sensors (LiDAR, radar and cameras) to enable vehicles to operate safely and efficiently in diverse driving environments.

The company's core business revolves around designing, testing and deploying its autonomy stack on vehicles from established automotive and transportation partners.

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