Aura Biosciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:AURA) Shares Bought by Renaissance Technologies LLC

Renaissance Technologies LLC increased its stake in shares of Aura Biosciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:AURA - Free Report) by 489.4% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 83,700 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 69,500 shares during the quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC owned approximately 0.17% of Aura Biosciences worth $688,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in AURA. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of Aura Biosciences by 0.4% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,012,799 shares of the company's stock worth $8,327,000 after buying an additional 3,972 shares during the last quarter. Wells Fargo & Company MN boosted its stake in Aura Biosciences by 27.3% in the fourth quarter. Wells Fargo & Company MN now owns 27,623 shares of the company's stock valued at $227,000 after acquiring an additional 5,930 shares in the last quarter. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. acquired a new stake in Aura Biosciences in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $87,000. American Century Companies Inc. grew its holdings in Aura Biosciences by 33.9% in the fourth quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 47,701 shares of the company's stock worth $392,000 after purchasing an additional 12,081 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Wellington Management Group LLP increased its position in shares of Aura Biosciences by 12.6% during the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 131,054 shares of the company's stock worth $1,077,000 after purchasing an additional 14,662 shares in the last quarter. 96.75% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

AURA has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. JMP Securities set a $19.00 price objective on Aura Biosciences in a research report on Wednesday, March 26th. HC Wainwright set a $25.00 price objective on shares of Aura Biosciences in a research report on Tuesday, March 25th. Citigroup reiterated an "outperform" rating on shares of Aura Biosciences in a research note on Wednesday, March 26th. Finally, Lifesci Capital upgraded shares of Aura Biosciences to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Six analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Buy" and an average price target of $22.75.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Conor Kilroy sold 7,162 shares of Aura Biosciences stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $5.49, for a total transaction of $39,319.38. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 179,313 shares in the company, valued at approximately $984,428.37. This trade represents a 3.84 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Insiders sold a total of 14,148 shares of company stock valued at $91,434 in the last quarter. 5.40% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Aura Biosciences Trading Down 8.1 %

NASDAQ AURA traded down $0.44 on Wednesday, hitting $5.03. 105,709 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 203,035. The firm's 50-day moving average price is $6.24 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $7.86. The firm has a market capitalization of $252.48 million, a PE ratio of -2.92 and a beta of 0.43. Aura Biosciences, Inc. has a 1-year low of $4.84 and a 1-year high of $12.38.

Aura Biosciences (NASDAQ:AURA - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Monday, March 24th. The company reported ($0.52) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of ($0.43) by ($0.09). On average, research analysts anticipate that Aura Biosciences, Inc. will post -1.66 earnings per share for the current fiscal 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.