Conor Kilroy Sells 11,738 Shares of Aura Biosciences (NASDAQ:AURA) Stock

Key Points

• Conor Kilroy sold 11,738 shares of Aura on April 16 at an average price of $7.02 for about $82,400 to cover tax withholding, cutting his stake by 5.11% to 217,835 shares (≈$1.53M).
• Aura traded around $7.06 with a market cap of $452.9M; the company reported Q1 EPS of -$0.37 (beating estimates by $0.06) while analysts forecast -1.66 EPS for the current fiscal year.
• The stock has a consensus rating of Hold (three Buys, one Hold, one Sell) with an average target of $20.50, and institutional investors own roughly 96.75% of the shares amid recent large inflows from firms like Millennium, XTX and Wellington.

Aura Biosciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:AURA - Get Free Report) insider Conor Kilroy sold 11,738 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, April 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $7.02, for a total transaction of $82,400.76. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 217,835 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,529,201.70. This trade represents a 5.11% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards.

Conor Kilroy also recently made the following trade(s):

• On Tuesday, February 17th, Conor Kilroy sold 12,079 shares of Aura Biosciences stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $5.05, for a total transaction of $60,998.95.

Aura Biosciences Stock Performance

NASDAQ:AURA traded down $0.03 during trading on Thursday, reaching $7.06. The company's stock had a trading volume of 285,749 shares, compared to its average volume of 244,958. The firm has a market cap of $452.90 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -3.94 and a beta of 0.35. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $6.12 and a 200-day moving average of $5.91. Aura Biosciences, Inc. has a 12 month low of $4.34 and a 12 month high of $7.48.

Aura Biosciences (NASDAQ:AURA - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, March 30th. The company reported ($0.37) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of ($0.43) by $0.06. Equities research analysts forecast that Aura Biosciences, Inc. will post -1.66 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. XTX Topco Ltd grew its holdings in shares of Aura Biosciences by 145.2% during the fourth quarter. XTX Topco Ltd now owns 60,811 shares of the company's stock worth $331,000 after purchasing an additional 36,006 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its holdings in shares of Aura Biosciences by 10.7% during the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 140,959 shares of the company's stock worth $768,000 after purchasing an additional 13,647 shares in the last quarter. Millennium Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Aura Biosciences by 233.3% during the fourth quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 617,338 shares of the company's stock worth $3,364,000 after purchasing an additional 432,117 shares in the last quarter. Trexquant Investment LP purchased a new position in shares of Aura Biosciences during the fourth quarter worth about $234,000. Finally, ExodusPoint Capital Management LP grew its holdings in shares of Aura Biosciences by 18.4% during the fourth quarter. ExodusPoint Capital Management LP now owns 51,419 shares of the company's stock worth $280,000 after purchasing an additional 7,998 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 96.75% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have recently commented on AURA. HC Wainwright reaffirmed a "buy" rating and issued a $22.00 price target on shares of Aura Biosciences in a report on Monday, March 30th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a "sell (d-)" rating on shares of Aura Biosciences in a report on Friday, March 27th. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised shares of Aura Biosciences from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Saturday, April 4th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $20.50.

About Aura Biosciences

Aura Biosciences is a clinical‐stage biopharmaceutical company focused on the development of novel virus‐like particle (VLP) therapies for the treatment of cancer. By combining proprietary VLP technology with photoactivatable dyes, Aura aims to deliver highly selective photodynamic therapies that target and destroy tumor cells while sparing healthy tissue. The company's platform is designed to address solid tumors in both ophthalmic and non‐ophthalmic settings, leveraging precision activation via near‐infrared light to induce localized tumor cell apoptosis and stimulate anti‐tumor immune responses.

The lead product candidate, AU-011, is being evaluated in patients with choroidal melanoma, a rare but potentially sight-threatening eye cancer.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.