HC Wainwright Brokers Raise Earnings Estimates for AURA

Aura Biosciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:AURA) – HC Wainwright raised their Q1 2026 earnings per share (EPS) estimates for Aura Biosciences in a report issued on Monday, March 30th. HC Wainwright analyst A. Maldonado now expects that the company will post earnings of ($0.38) per share for the quarter, up from their previous estimate of ($0.44). HC Wainwright currently has a “Buy” rating and a $22.00 price target on the stock. The consensus estimate for Aura Biosciences’ current full-year earnings is ($1.66) per share. HC Wainwright also issued estimates for Aura Biosciences’ Q2 2026 earnings at ($0.39) EPS, Q3 2026 earnings at ($0.40) EPS, Q4 2026 earnings at ($0.41) EPS, FY2026 earnings at ($1.59) EPS, FY2027 earnings at ($1.56) EPS, FY2028 earnings at ($1.36) EPS and FY2029 earnings at ($1.02) EPS.

AURA has been the topic of several other research reports. Wall Street Zen upgraded Aura Biosciences from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Aura Biosciences in a research note on Friday, March 27th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $20.50.

Aura Biosciences Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:AURA traded down $0.02 during trading on Tuesday, hitting $6.66. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 248,756 shares, compared to its average volume of 235,328. Aura Biosciences has a fifty-two week low of $4.34 and a fifty-two week high of $7.48. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $5.96 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $5.87. The company has a market capitalization of $427.17 million, a PE ratio of -3.71 and a beta of 0.35.

Aura Biosciences (NASDAQ:AURA) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, March 30th. The company reported ($0.37) EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.43) by $0.06.

Insider Activity

In other Aura Biosciences news, insider Los Pinos Elisabet De sold 47,648 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $5.06, for a total transaction of $241,098.88. Following the sale, the insider owned 409,815 shares in the company, valued at $2,073,663.90. This represents a 10.42% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, insider Janet Jill Hopkins sold 20,401 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $5.06, for a total value of $103,229.06. Following the sale, the insider owned 232,284 shares in the company, valued at $1,175,357.04. The trade was a 8.07% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold a total of 123,076 shares of company stock valued at $618,783 over the last three months. Company insiders own 6.30% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Aura Biosciences

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC raised its stake in Aura Biosciences by 49.3% during the second quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 6,372 shares of the company’s stock valued at $40,000 after buying an additional 2,104 shares in the last quarter. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. raised its stake in Aura Biosciences by 24.3% during the second quarter. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 12,453 shares of the company’s stock valued at $78,000 after buying an additional 2,434 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its position in shares of Aura Biosciences by 12.3% during the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 24,557 shares of the company’s stock worth $152,000 after purchasing an additional 2,693 shares during the period. Rhumbline Advisers raised its position in shares of Aura Biosciences by 5.5% during the 3rd quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 69,037 shares of the company’s stock worth $427,000 after purchasing an additional 3,630 shares during the period. Finally, Barclays PLC raised its position in shares of Aura Biosciences by 6.7% during the 4th quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 69,298 shares of the company’s stock worth $378,000 after purchasing an additional 4,366 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 96.75% of the company’s stock.

Aura Biosciences Company Profile

Aura Biosciences is a clinical‐stage biopharmaceutical company focused on the development of novel virus‐like particle (VLP) therapies for the treatment of cancer. By combining proprietary VLP technology with photoactivatable dyes, Aura aims to deliver highly selective photodynamic therapies that target and destroy tumor cells while sparing healthy tissue. The company’s platform is designed to address solid tumors in both ophthalmic and non‐ophthalmic settings, leveraging precision activation via near‐infrared light to induce localized tumor cell apoptosis and stimulate anti‐tumor immune responses.

The lead product candidate, AU-011, is being evaluated in patients with choroidal melanoma, a rare but potentially sight-threatening eye cancer.