Aura Biosciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:AURA) Sees Large Increase in Short Interest

Aura Biosciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:AURA) was the target of a large growth in short interest in November. As of November 30th, there was short interest totalling 1,030,000 shares, a growth of 8.8% from the November 15th total of 947,100 shares. Approximately 2.4% of the shares of the stock are sold short. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 202,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 5.1 days.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on AURA shares. Cowen reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Aura Biosciences in a report on Friday, October 18th. Scotiabank increased their target price on shares of Aura Biosciences from $20.00 to $23.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, October 18th. JMP Securities lifted their price target on shares of Aura Biosciences from $19.00 to $23.00 and gave the stock a “market outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, September 13th. HC Wainwright reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $22.00 price target on shares of Aura Biosciences in a report on Thursday, November 14th. Finally, Evercore ISI raised shares of Aura Biosciences to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, September 16th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Aura Biosciences has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $23.00.

Insider Buying and Selling at Aura Biosciences

In other Aura Biosciences news, insider Janet Jill Hopkins sold 11,822 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, November 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $9.36, for a total transaction of $110,653.92. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 151,693 shares in the company, valued at $1,419,846.48. This trade represents a 7.23 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CFO Julie B. Feder sold 25,131 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, October 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $12.03, for a total transaction of $302,325.93. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 134,276 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,615,340.28. This trade represents a 15.77 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 79,081 shares of company stock worth $891,353 in the last quarter. 5.40% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Aura Biosciences by 14.8% in the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 1,668,960 shares of the company’s stock worth $15,571,000 after buying an additional 215,597 shares during the period. Barclays PLC lifted its stake in Aura Biosciences by 256.5% in the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 61,010 shares of the company’s stock worth $544,000 after acquiring an additional 43,897 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in Aura Biosciences by 4.1% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,008,827 shares of the company’s stock worth $8,990,000 after acquiring an additional 39,379 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP purchased a new position in Aura Biosciences during the 3rd quarter valued at about $1,037,000. Finally, State Street Corp raised its holdings in shares of Aura Biosciences by 3.7% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 754,803 shares of the company’s stock valued at $6,725,000 after purchasing an additional 26,841 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 96.75% of the company’s stock.

Aura Biosciences Trading Down 0.4 %

Shares of NASDAQ AURA traded down $0.03 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $8.41. The company had a trading volume of 121,520 shares, compared to its average volume of 180,132. The stock has a market cap of $420.09 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -4.86 and a beta of 0.26. Aura Biosciences has a 52 week low of $6.63 and a 52 week high of $12.38. The business’s 50-day moving average is $9.70 and its 200-day moving average is $8.74.

Aura Biosciences (NASDAQ:AURA) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, November 12th. The company reported ($0.42) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.44) by $0.02. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Aura Biosciences 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.