Short Interest in Aura Biosciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:AURA) Grows By 20.8%

Aura Biosciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:AURA) saw a significant increase in short interest during the month of December. As of December 31st, there was short interest totalling 1,280,000 shares, an increase of 20.8% from the December 15th total of 1,060,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 206,600 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 6.2 days. Approximately 2.9% of the company’s stock are sold short.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts recently issued reports on AURA shares. BTIG Research increased their price objective on Aura Biosciences from $21.00 to $24.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, October 18th. Cowen reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Aura Biosciences in a research report on Friday, October 18th. Scotiabank raised their price objective on shares of Aura Biosciences from $20.00 to $23.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, October 18th. Finally, HC Wainwright reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $22.00 target price on shares of Aura Biosciences in a report on Thursday, November 14th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Aura Biosciences presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $23.00.

Aura Biosciences Stock Performance

Shares of Aura Biosciences stock opened at $7.77 on Friday. Aura Biosciences has a 52-week low of $6.63 and a 52-week high of $12.38. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $8.62 and its 200-day moving average price is $8.89.

Aura Biosciences (NASDAQ:AURA) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, November 12th. The company reported ($0.42) earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.44) by $0.02. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Aura Biosciences will post -1.66 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Los Pinos Elisabet De sold 9,200 shares of Aura Biosciences stock in a transaction on Tuesday, October 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $10.74, for a total transaction of $98,808.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 320,647 shares in the company, valued at $3,443,748.78. The trade was a 2.79 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Janet Jill Hopkins sold 11,822 shares of Aura Biosciences stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $9.36, for a total transaction of $110,653.92. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 151,693 shares in the company, valued at $1,419,846.48. This trade represents a 7.23 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 21,575 shares of company stock worth $215,401 over the last quarter. Insiders own 5.40% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Aura Biosciences

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Franklin Resources Inc. grew its stake in Aura Biosciences by 14.8% in the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 1,668,960 shares of the company’s stock worth $15,571,000 after purchasing an additional 215,597 shares during the period. Long Focus Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Aura Biosciences by 113.4% during the 2nd quarter. Long Focus Capital Management LLC now owns 1,057,188 shares of the company’s stock valued at $7,992,000 after buying an additional 561,766 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of Aura Biosciences by 4.1% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,008,827 shares of the company’s stock worth $8,990,000 after buying an additional 39,379 shares during the period. State Street Corp increased its stake 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 worth $6,725,000 after acquiring an additional 26,841 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its position in Aura Biosciences by 20.0% during the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 250,375 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,892,000 after acquiring an additional 41,711 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 96.75% of the company’s stock.

Aura Biosciences Company Profile

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.