Aurora Innovation Target of Unusually High Options Trading (NASDAQ:AUR)

Key Points

• Unusual options activity: Traders bought 25,746 Aurora Innovation call options, about 129% above the typical daily volume.
• Mixed financial performance: Shares closed at $6.01, while the company reported a quarterly loss of $0.14 per share, missing estimates, despite revenue doubling year over year to $2 million.
• Analyst outlook remains positive but divided: Aurora has a “Moderate Buy” consensus rating and a $12.67 target price, although some analysts maintain sell ratings. Insiders sold more than 6.39 million shares over the past 90 days.

Aurora Innovation, Inc. (NASDAQ:AUR - Get Free Report) saw some unusual options trading on Wednesday. Traders purchased 25,746 call options on the stock. This represents an increase of approximately 129% compared to the typical daily volume of 11,220 call options.

Aurora Innovation Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:AUR traded down $0.45 during trading on Wednesday, reaching $6.01. The stock had a trading volume of 23,268,394 shares, compared to its average volume of 24,886,020. Aurora Innovation has a 1-year low of $3.60 and a 1-year high of $8.56. The stock has a market cap of $12.06 billion, a PE ratio of -12.76 and a beta of 2.63. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $6.33 and a 200-day moving average price of $5.96.

Aurora Innovation (NASDAQ:AUR - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 29th. The company reported ($0.14) earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of ($0.12) by ($0.02). The business had revenue of $2.00 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.66 million. Aurora Innovation had a negative return on equity of 43.94% and a negative net margin of 18,000.00%.The business's revenue was up 100.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted ($0.11) earnings per share. Sell-side analysts expect that Aurora Innovation will post -0.48 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Michelangelo Volpi sold 2,842,682 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $7.00, for a total transaction of $19,898,774.00. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Insiders have sold 6,390,753 shares of company stock valued at $44,826,378 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 8.52% of the company's stock.

Institutional Trading of Aurora Innovation

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of Aurora Innovation by 6.6% in the fourth quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. now owns 274,809,541 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,055,269,000 after acquiring an additional 16,933,373 shares in the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE grew its stake in Aurora Innovation by 130.0% during the 1st quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 30,036,169 shares of the company's stock worth $123,749,000 after purchasing an additional 16,975,927 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp increased its holdings in Aurora Innovation by 6.0% during the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 22,922,729 shares of the company's stock worth $156,333,000 after purchasing an additional 1,293,487 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in Aurora Innovation by 7.5% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 21,488,433 shares of the company's stock worth $82,535,000 after purchasing an additional 1,498,515 shares during the period. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its position in Aurora Innovation by 4.3% in the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 11,807,009 shares of the company's stock valued at $48,621,000 after purchasing an additional 490,659 shares in the last quarter. 44.71% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on AUR shares. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Aurora Innovation from a "sell" rating to a "strong sell" rating in a research report on Saturday, August 1st. Evercore reaffirmed an "outperform" rating on shares of Aurora Innovation in a research report on Tuesday, September 15th. Weiss Ratings reissued a "sell (d-)" rating on shares of Aurora Innovation in a report on Friday, July 17th. Cantor Fitzgerald restated an "overweight" rating on shares of Aurora Innovation in a research note on Monday. Finally, Northland Securities assumed coverage on Aurora Innovation in a report on Friday, May 29th. They set an "outperform" rating and a $11.00 target price on the stock. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have issued a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Aurora Innovation currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $12.67.

About Aurora Innovation

Aurora Innovation, Inc develops autonomous vehicle technology designed to transport people and goods without human drivers. Its core product, the Aurora Driver, combines artificial intelligence, sensors, mapping, and other software and hardware systems to enable automated driving across trucking, ride-hailing, and logistics applications.

The company is initially focused on autonomous trucking, where its technology is intended to support long-haul freight operations and improve safety, efficiency, and vehicle utilization.

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