Short Interest in Aura Biosciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:AURA) Expands By 20.8%

Aura Biosciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:AURA) was the recipient of a significant increase in short interest in December. As of December 31st, there was short interest totalling 1,280,000 shares, an increase of 20.8% from the December 15th total of 1,060,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 206,600 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 6.2 days. Currently, 2.9% of the company’s stock are short sold.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

AURA has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Scotiabank boosted their price objective on shares of Aura Biosciences from $20.00 to $23.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, October 18th. HC Wainwright reissued a “buy” rating and set a $22.00 price target on shares of Aura Biosciences in a report on Thursday, November 14th. Cowen restated a “buy” rating on shares of Aura Biosciences in a research report on Friday, October 18th. Finally, BTIG Research lifted their price objective on Aura Biosciences from $21.00 to $24.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research 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. Based on data from MarketBeat, Aura Biosciences currently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $23.00.

Aura Biosciences Stock Up 1.3 %

NASDAQ:AURA traded up $0.10 on Friday, reaching $7.77. 112,088 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 132,090. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $8.68 and a 200-day simple moving average of $8.88. Aura Biosciences has a 12 month low of $6.63 and a 12 month high of $12.38. The firm has a market cap of $388.11 million, a PE ratio of -4.49 and a beta of 0.30.

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

Insider Activity

In other Aura Biosciences news, insider Janet Jill Hopkins sold 11,822 shares of Aura Biosciences 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 transaction, the insider now directly owns 151,693 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,419,846.48. The trade was a 7.23 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Los Pinos Elisabet De sold 9,200 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, October 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $10.74, for a total transaction of $98,808.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 320,647 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,443,748.78. This trade represents a 2.79 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 21,575 shares of company stock worth $215,401 over the last quarter. 5.40% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in AURA. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in Aura Biosciences by 2.7% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 138,356 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,233,000 after buying an additional 3,612 shares during the last quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company boosted 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 acquiring an additional 8,194 shares during the last quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC grew its holdings in shares of Aura Biosciences by 26.3% in the second quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 72,100 shares of the company’s stock valued at $545,000 after purchasing an additional 15,000 shares in the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. bought a new stake in Aura Biosciences in the second quarter worth $119,000. Finally, Rhumbline Advisers raised its stake in Aura Biosciences by 39.6% during the second quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 63,483 shares of the company’s stock valued at $480,000 after purchasing an additional 18,011 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.