Aura Biosciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:AURA) Sees Significant Growth in Short Interest

Aura Biosciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:AURA - Get Free Report) saw a significant 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 company's stock are short sold. Based on an average trading volume of 202,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 5.1 days.

Aura Biosciences Trading Down 0.4 %

Shares of NASDAQ:AURA traded down $0.03 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $8.41. The stock had a trading volume of 121,520 shares, compared to its average volume of 180,132. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $9.70 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $8.75. The firm has a market cap of $420.09 million, a PE ratio of -4.86 and a beta of 0.26. Aura Biosciences has a twelve month low of $6.63 and a twelve month high of $12.38.

Aura Biosciences (NASDAQ:AURA - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, November 12th. The company reported ($0.42) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of ($0.44) by $0.02. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Aura Biosciences will post -1.66 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, insider Janet Jill Hopkins sold 11,822 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Monday, November 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $9.36, for a total value of $110,653.92. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 151,693 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,419,846.48. This trade represents a 7.23 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, 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 completion of the sale, the chief technology officer now directly owns 121,132 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,193,150.20. This represents a 5.74 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 79,081 shares of company stock valued at $891,353 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 5.40% of the company's stock.

Institutional Trading of Aura Biosciences

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Aura Biosciences by 14.8% in the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 1,668,960 shares of the company's stock valued at $15,571,000 after buying an additional 215,597 shares during the period. Long Focus Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in 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 worth $7,992,000 after purchasing an additional 561,766 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake 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 valued at $8,990,000 after purchasing an additional 39,379 shares during the period. State Street Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Aura Biosciences by 3.7% in the third 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. Finally, Levin Capital Strategies L.P. boosted its position in shares of Aura Biosciences by 194.5% during the second quarter. Levin Capital Strategies L.P. now owns 327,466 shares of the company's stock worth $2,476,000 after buying an additional 216,266 shares during the period. 96.75% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on AURA. Evercore ISI upgraded shares of Aura Biosciences to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Monday, September 16th. Scotiabank increased their price target on shares of Aura Biosciences from $20.00 to $23.00 and gave the stock a "sector outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, October 18th. JMP Securities raised 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. Cowen reiterated a "buy" rating on shares of Aura Biosciences in a research note on Friday, October 18th. Finally, HC Wainwright restated a "buy" rating and set a $22.00 target price on shares of Aura Biosciences in a research report on Thursday, November 14th. Five equities research 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, the stock presently has an average rating of "Buy" and an average price target of $23.00.

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.