Aura Biosciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:AURA) Short Interest Down 12.2% in September

Aura Biosciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:AURA) was the recipient of a significant decline in short interest in September. As of September 30th, there was short interest totalling 1,150,000 shares, a decline of 12.2% from the September 15th total of 1,310,000 shares. Currently, 2.7% of the company’s shares are short sold. Based on an average trading volume of 160,400 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 7.2 days.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Aura Biosciences

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. American International Group Inc. grew its holdings in Aura Biosciences by 27.4% during the 1st quarter. American International Group Inc. now owns 17,579 shares of the company’s stock worth $138,000 after acquiring an additional 3,782 shares during the period. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company increased its holdings in Aura Biosciences by 14.6% in the second quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 64,452 shares of the company’s stock worth $487,000 after purchasing an additional 8,194 shares in the last quarter. Levin Capital Strategies L.P. lifted its stake in Aura Biosciences by 11.2% in the first quarter. Levin Capital Strategies L.P. now owns 111,200 shares of the company’s stock valued at $873,000 after buying an additional 11,200 shares during the period. Renaissance Technologies LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Aura Biosciences by 26.3% during the 2nd quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 72,100 shares of the company’s stock worth $545,000 after buying an additional 15,000 shares in the last quarter. Finally, American Century Companies Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Aura Biosciences during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $119,000. 96.75% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Aura Biosciences Price Performance

AURA stock traded up $0.25 during trading on Monday, reaching $9.33. 151,282 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 169,432. Aura Biosciences has a twelve month low of $5.99 and a twelve month high of $12.35. The company has a market capitalization of $462.24 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -5.09 and a beta of 0.37. The company has a 50-day moving average of $8.48 and a two-hundred day moving average of $7.97.

Aura Biosciences (NASDAQ:AURA) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, August 8th. The company reported ($0.41) EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.45) by $0.04. On average, analysts forecast that Aura Biosciences will post -1.7 EPS for the current year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on AURA shares. Lifesci Capital raised Aura Biosciences to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, September 9th. Evercore ISI upgraded shares of Aura Biosciences to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, September 16th. JMP Securities lifted their target price on Aura Biosciences from $19.00 to $23.00 and gave the company a “market outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, September 13th. Finally, HC Wainwright reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $21.00 target price on shares of Aura Biosciences in a report on Friday, September 13th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $21.67.

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.