Aura Biosciences (NASDAQ:AURA) Upgraded by Lifesci Capital to Strong-Buy Rating

Aura Biosciences (NASDAQ:AURA) was upgraded by equities research analysts at Lifesci Capital to a “strong-buy” rating in a note issued to investors on Friday,Zacks.com reports.

A number of other equities analysts also recently weighed in on the company. Scotiabank boosted their target price on Aura Biosciences from $20.00 to $23.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, October 18th. HC Wainwright restated a “buy” rating and set a $22.00 price target on shares of Aura Biosciences in a research note on Thursday, November 14th. Cowen reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Aura Biosciences in a report on Friday, October 18th. Finally, BTIG Research upped their price objective on shares of Aura Biosciences from $21.00 to $24.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, October 18th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $23.00.

Aura Biosciences Trading Down 1.0 %

Shares of Aura Biosciences stock opened at $7.85 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $392.12 million, a P/E ratio of -4.54 and a beta of 0.30. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $8.28 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $8.90. Aura Biosciences has a 1-year low of $6.63 and a 1-year high of $12.38.

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

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Los Pinos Elisabet De sold 15,955 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $7.67, for a total value of $122,374.85. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 304,692 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,336,987.64. This represents a 4.98 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, insider Janet Jill Hopkins sold 11,822 shares of Aura Biosciences stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the insider now owns 151,693 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,419,846.48. The trade was a 7.23 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 28,778 shares of company stock worth $240,706. 5.40% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Aura Biosciences

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. purchased a new position in Aura Biosciences in the fourth quarter worth about $87,000. American Century Companies Inc. bought a new position in shares of Aura Biosciences during the second quarter worth $119,000. SG Americas Securities LLC purchased a new position in shares of Aura Biosciences during the third quarter valued at about $169,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its position in Aura Biosciences by 107.5% in the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 53,502 shares of the company’s stock worth $477,000 after purchasing an additional 27,718 shares during the last quarter. Finally, The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company raised its position in shares of Aura Biosciences by 14.6% during the 2nd quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 64,452 shares of the company’s stock valued at $487,000 after buying an additional 8,194 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 96.75% of the company’s stock.

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.