Aura Biosciences (NASDAQ:AURA) Trading Down 4.9% on Insider Selling

Aura Biosciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:AURA - Get Free Report) shares were down 4.9% during trading on Tuesday after an insider sold shares in the company. The stock traded as low as $11.01 and last traded at $11.08. Approximately 53,228 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 70% from the average daily volume of 175,820 shares. The stock had previously closed at $11.65.

Specifically, CFO Julie B. Feder sold 25,131 shares of Aura Biosciences stock in a transaction dated Friday, October 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $12.03, for a total value of $302,325.93. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 134,276 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,615,340.28. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Los Pinos Elisabet De sold 24,992 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Friday, October 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $12.04, for a total value of $300,903.68. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 329,847 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $3,971,357.88. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In other news, CTO Mark Plavsic sold 7,383 shares of the business'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 transaction, the chief technology officer now owns 121,132 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,193,150.20. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on AURA shares. Evercore ISI upgraded Aura Biosciences to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Monday, September 16th. JMP Securities increased their price objective on shares of Aura Biosciences from $19.00 to $23.00 and gave the company a "market outperform" rating in a report on Friday, September 13th. HC Wainwright boosted their target price on Aura Biosciences from $21.00 to $22.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Friday. BTIG Research upped their target price on Aura Biosciences from $21.00 to $24.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday. Finally, Scotiabank lifted their price target on Aura Biosciences from $20.00 to $23.00 and gave the company a "sector outperform" rating in a research report on Friday. Five analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Buy" and a consensus target price of $23.00.

Aura Biosciences Price Performance

The stock has a market capitalization of $564.29 million, a P/E ratio of -6.12 and a beta of 0.37. The stock's fifty day moving average is $8.80 and its two-hundred day moving average is $8.13.

Aura Biosciences (NASDAQ:AURA - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, August 8th. The company reported ($0.41) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of ($0.45) by $0.04. Analysts expect that Aura Biosciences, Inc. will post -1.7 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in AURA. American Century Companies Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Aura Biosciences in the second quarter valued at $119,000. American International Group Inc. raised its position in Aura Biosciences by 27.4% during the first quarter. American International Group Inc. now owns 17,579 shares of the company's stock valued at $138,000 after buying an additional 3,782 shares during the period. Virtu Financial LLC purchased a new stake in Aura Biosciences in the 1st quarter worth about $144,000. SG Americas Securities LLC acquired a new stake in Aura Biosciences during the 3rd quarter worth about $169,000. Finally, Rhumbline Advisers boosted its position in Aura Biosciences by 39.6% during the 2nd quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 63,483 shares of the company's stock worth $480,000 after acquiring an additional 18,011 shares during the period. 96.75% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.