Aura Biosciences (NASDAQ:AURA) Stock Price Down 4.9% – Here’s Why

Aura Biosciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:AURA)’s stock price traded down 4.9% on Monday . The stock traded as low as $7.34 and last traded at $7.3590. 254,607 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 39% from the average session volume of 419,417 shares. The stock had previously closed at $7.74.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Leerink Partners set a $17.00 target price on shares of Aura Biosciences in a research note on Tuesday, May 12th. Weiss Ratings downgraded shares of Aura Biosciences from a “sell (d-)” rating to a “sell (e+)” rating in a research note on Monday, June 29th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Aura Biosciences from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, April 4th. Finally, HC Wainwright raised their target price on Aura Biosciences from $22.00 to $24.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 29th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Aura Biosciences has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $20.50.

Aura Biosciences Price Performance

The stock has a market cap of $755.68 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -4.21 and a beta of 0.40. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $7.20 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $6.39.

Aura Biosciences (NASDAQ:AURA) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Monday, May 11th. The company reported ($0.50) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.40) by ($0.10). On average, analysts forecast that Aura Biosciences, Inc. will post -1.73 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity at Aura Biosciences

In other Aura Biosciences news, major shareholder Matrix Capital Management Comp sold 6,922,870 shares of Aura Biosciences stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $5.64, for a total transaction of $39,044,986.80. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Anthony S. Gibney sold 12,824 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, June 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $6.42, for a total value of $82,330.08. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 265,354 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,703,572.68. This represents a 4.61% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 6,947,432 shares of company stock valued at $39,209,718. 1.90% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Aura Biosciences

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Parallel Advisors LLC raised its position in Aura Biosciences by 130.4% in the 1st quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 5,665 shares of the company’s stock valued at $38,000 after buying an additional 3,206 shares during the last quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC lifted its stake in Aura Biosciences by 49.3% during the 2nd quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 6,372 shares of the company’s stock valued at $40,000 after acquiring an additional 2,104 shares in the last quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC bought a new position in Aura Biosciences during the 4th quarter valued at $59,000. Water Island Capital LLC purchased a new position in Aura Biosciences during the 3rd quarter worth $64,000. Finally, Invesco Ltd. purchased a new position in Aura Biosciences during the 2nd quarter worth $76,000. Institutional investors own 96.75% of the company’s stock.

About Aura Biosciences

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.