Aura Biosciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:AURA) Short Interest Update

Aura Biosciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:AURA - Get Free Report) was the target of a significant growth in short interest in the month of January. As of January 15th, there was short interest totalling 1,280,000 shares, a growth of 20.8% from the December 31st 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. Currently, 2.9% of the shares of the company are sold short.

Aura Biosciences Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:AURA traded up $0.32 during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching $8.00. 90,629 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 130,001. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $8.23 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $8.88. Aura Biosciences has a 1 year low of $6.63 and a 1 year high of $12.38. The company has a market cap of $399.60 million, a P/E ratio of -4.62 and a beta of 0.29.

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

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Janet Jill Hopkins sold 11,822 shares of the business's stock in a transaction 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 completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 151,693 shares in the company, valued at $1,419,846.48. The trade was a 7.23 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Los Pinos Elisabet De sold 15,955 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 in the company, valued at $2,336,987.64. This represents a 4.98 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 28,778 shares of company stock valued at $240,706. Company insiders own 5.40% of the company's stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Aura Biosciences

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of AURA. American Century Companies Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Aura Biosciences in the second quarter worth approximately $119,000. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its stake in Aura Biosciences by 20.0% during the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 250,375 shares of the company's stock worth $1,892,000 after purchasing an additional 41,711 shares during the last quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC boosted its stake in 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 purchasing an additional 15,000 shares during the last quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company grew its holdings in shares of Aura Biosciences by 14.6% during the second quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 64,452 shares of the company's stock worth $487,000 after buying an additional 8,194 shares in the last quarter. Finally, SG Americas Securities LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Aura Biosciences in the third quarter valued at about $169,000. 96.75% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

AURA has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Scotiabank upped 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. Cowen restated a "buy" rating on shares of Aura Biosciences in a research report on Friday, October 18th. 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. BTIG Research increased their price target on shares of Aura Biosciences from $21.00 to $24.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, October 18th. Finally, Lifesci Capital raised shares of Aura Biosciences to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Friday. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus 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.