Levin Capital Strategies L.P. Raises Stock Holdings in Aura Biosciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:AURA)

Key Points

• Levin Capital Strategies L.P. increased its stake in Aura Biosciences by 9.1%, now holding 1,360,768 shares valued at approximately $7.97 million.
• Several hedge funds, including Bank of America Corp DE and Wellington Management Group LLP, also raised their positions in Aura Biosciences during the last quarter, indicating strong institutional interest.
• Analysts have a positive outlook on common stock with an average buy rating and a consensus target price of $22.00, reflecting confidence in the company's future performance.

Levin Capital Strategies L.P. lifted its holdings in Aura Biosciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:AURA - Free Report) by 9.1% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 1,360,768 shares of the company's stock after buying an additional 113,149 shares during the quarter. Levin Capital Strategies L.P. owned 2.71% of Aura Biosciences worth $7,974,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Regency Capital Management Inc. DE boosted its position in Aura Biosciences by 23.0% during the first quarter. Regency Capital Management Inc. DE now owns 749,482 shares of the company's stock worth $4,392,000 after purchasing an additional 140,058 shares in the last quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Aura Biosciences in the first quarter worth $151,000. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its holdings in shares of Aura Biosciences by 5,766.9% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 9,739 shares of the company's stock worth $57,000 after acquiring an additional 9,573 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its holdings in shares of Aura Biosciences by 12.6% in the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 131,054 shares of the company's stock worth $1,077,000 after acquiring an additional 14,662 shares during the last quarter. Finally, ProShare Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Aura Biosciences in the fourth quarter worth $127,000. 96.75% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on AURA. HC Wainwright raised Aura Biosciences to a "buy" rating and set a $22.00 price target for the company in a report on Wednesday, May 28th. JMP Securities reiterated a "market outperform" rating and issued a $19.00 target price on shares of Aura Biosciences in a research note on Friday, May 23rd. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Aura Biosciences presently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and a consensus target price of $22.00.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Anthony S. Gibney bought 50,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 16th. The stock was bought at an average price of $4.90 per share, with a total value of $245,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 58,452 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $286,414.80. This represents a 591.58% increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director David Michael Johnson bought 20,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 16th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $4.90 per share, with a total value of $98,000.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 166,167 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $814,218.30. This trade represents a 13.68% increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 5.40% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Aura Biosciences Trading Up 3.8%

NASDAQ:AURA traded up $0.25 on Friday, hitting $6.80. 148,610 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 166,105. The stock has a market cap of $341.84 million, a PE ratio of -3.58 and a beta of 0.46. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $6.55 and a 200-day moving average of $6.57. Aura Biosciences, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $4.34 and a fifty-two week high of $12.38.

Aura Biosciences (NASDAQ:AURA - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 15th. The company reported ($0.55) EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.47) by ($0.08). As a group, analysts predict that Aura Biosciences, Inc. will post -1.66 earnings per share 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.