Short Interest in Aura Biosciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:AURA) Decreases By 8.7%

Aura Biosciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:AURA) was the recipient of a significant drop in short interest in the month of October. As of October 15th, there was short interest totalling 1,050,000 shares, a drop of 8.7% from the September 30th total of 1,150,000 shares. Approximately 2.5% of the company’s shares are short sold. Based on an average daily volume of 184,900 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 5.7 days.

Aura Biosciences Stock Down 2.5 %

NASDAQ AURA opened at $10.71 on Wednesday. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $9.05 and its 200-day moving average is $8.23. The company has a market capitalization of $530.61 million, a PE ratio of -5.76 and a beta of 0.37. Aura Biosciences has a 12-month low of $5.99 and a 12-month high of $12.38.

Aura Biosciences (NASDAQ:AURA) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 8th. The company reported ($0.41) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.45) by $0.04. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Aura Biosciences will post -1.7 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CTO Mark Plavsic sold 7,383 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, October 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $9.85, for a total value of $72,722.55. Following the transaction, the chief technology officer now owns 121,132 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,193,150.20. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. In other Aura Biosciences news, CTO Mark Plavsic sold 7,383 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, October 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $9.85, for a total transaction of $72,722.55. Following the completion of the sale, the chief technology officer now owns 121,132 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,193,150.20. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Los Pinos Elisabet De sold 24,992 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, October 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $12.04, for a total value of $300,903.68. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 329,847 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,971,357.88. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 67,259 shares of company stock worth $780,699 over the last three months. 5.40% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Aura Biosciences

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. American Century Companies Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Aura Biosciences during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $119,000. American International Group Inc. increased its holdings in Aura Biosciences by 27.4% during the first quarter. American International Group Inc. now owns 17,579 shares of the company’s stock worth $138,000 after buying an additional 3,782 shares during the last quarter. Virtu Financial LLC bought a new stake in Aura Biosciences during the first quarter worth $144,000. SG Americas Securities LLC acquired a new stake in Aura Biosciences in the third quarter valued at $169,000. Finally, Rhumbline Advisers grew its position in shares of Aura Biosciences by 39.6% in the 2nd quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 63,483 shares of the company’s stock valued at $480,000 after acquiring an additional 18,011 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 96.75% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on the company. Scotiabank raised their price target on Aura Biosciences from $20.00 to $23.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, October 18th. Evercore ISI raised shares of Aura Biosciences to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, September 16th. BTIG Research increased their price objective on shares of Aura Biosciences from $21.00 to $24.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, October 18th. JMP Securities boosted their price objective on shares of 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, Cowen reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Aura Biosciences in a report on Friday, October 18th. Five 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 MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $23.00.

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.