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

Aura Biosciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:AURA) saw a significant increase in short interest in the month of November. As of November 30th, there was short interest totalling 1,030,000 shares, an increase of 8.8% from the November 15th total of 947,100 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 202,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 5.1 days. Currently, 2.4% of the company’s shares are sold short.

Aura Biosciences Trading Down 1.0 %

AURA traded down $0.09 during trading on Tuesday, reaching $8.80. 15,895 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 179,586. Aura Biosciences has a 52 week low of $6.63 and a 52 week high of $12.38. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $9.70 and a 200 day moving average of $8.75. The stock has a market cap of $439.57 million, a P/E ratio of -5.14 and a beta of 0.26.

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Aura Biosciences news, CTO Mark Plavsic sold 7,383 shares of the 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 transaction, the chief technology officer now directly owns 121,132 shares in the company, valued at $1,193,150.20. This represents a 5.74 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CFO Julie B. Feder sold 25,131 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, October 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $12.03, for a total transaction of $302,325.93. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 134,276 shares in the company, valued at $1,615,340.28. This trade represents a 15.77 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 79,081 shares of company stock worth $891,353 over the last ninety days. 5.40% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of AURA. Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its stake in Aura Biosciences by 51.4% during the 2nd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 143,027 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,081,000 after purchasing an additional 48,549 shares during the period. Rhumbline Advisers boosted its stake in Aura Biosciences by 39.6% during the 2nd quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 63,483 shares of the company’s stock valued at $480,000 after purchasing an additional 18,011 shares during the period. Levin Capital Strategies L.P. boosted its stake in Aura Biosciences by 194.5% during the 2nd quarter. Levin Capital Strategies L.P. now owns 327,466 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,476,000 after purchasing an additional 216,266 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc. acquired a new position in Aura Biosciences during the 2nd quarter valued at about $119,000. Finally, 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 valued at $1,892,000 after purchasing an additional 41,711 shares during the period. 96.75% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have commented on the stock. Cowen reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Aura Biosciences in a research note on Friday, October 18th. Scotiabank boosted their price target on Aura Biosciences from $20.00 to $23.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a report on Friday, October 18th. HC Wainwright restated a “buy” rating and set a $22.00 price objective on shares of Aura Biosciences in a research note on Thursday, November 14th. Evercore ISI upgraded shares of Aura Biosciences to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, September 16th. Finally, Lifesci Capital upgraded shares of Aura Biosciences to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, September 9th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus 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.