Aurora Innovation (NASDAQ:AUR) Cut to “Strong Sell” at Wall Street Zen

Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Aurora Innovation (NASDAQ:AUR) from a sell rating to a strong sell rating in a report published on Saturday.

A number of other equities analysts have also commented on AUR. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price objective on shares of Aurora Innovation from $4.00 to $5.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, April 17th. TD Cowen increased their target price on Aurora Innovation from $4.70 to $7.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, May 7th. Craig Hallum started coverage on Aurora Innovation in a research report on Friday, June 5th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $18.00 target price for the company. Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $12.00 price target on shares of Aurora Innovation in a report on Thursday, July 23rd. Finally, Northland Securities assumed coverage on Aurora Innovation in a report on Friday, May 29th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $11.00 price target on the stock. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have given a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $12.22.

Aurora Innovation Trading Up 5.3%

AUR stock opened at $6.79 on Friday. Aurora Innovation has a one year low of $3.60 and a one year high of $8.56. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $6.44 and a two-hundred day moving average of $5.48. The firm has a market capitalization of $13.32 billion, a PE ratio of -14.45 and a beta of 2.64.

Aurora Innovation (NASDAQ:AUR) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, July 29th. The company reported ($0.14) earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.12) by ($0.02). Aurora Innovation had a negative return on equity of 43.94% and a negative net margin of 18,000.00%.The firm had revenue of $2.00 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.66 million. During the same period last year, the business earned ($0.11) earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 100.0% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Aurora Innovation will post -0.49 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Aurora Innovation

In other news, Director Reid Hoffman sold 5,498,487 shares of Aurora Innovation stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $7.81, for a total transaction of $42,943,183.47. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 77,500 shares in the company, valued at $605,275. The trade was a 98.61% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director David M. Wehner acquired 82,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, June 11th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $6.04 per share, for a total transaction of $498,300.00. Following the acquisition, the director directly owned 246,519 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,488,974.76. The trade was a 50.30% increase in their position. Additional details regarding this purchase are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 7,048,487 shares of company stock worth $54,295,119. 8.52% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Aurora Innovation

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of AUR. Handelsbanken Fonder AB lifted its position in shares of Aurora Innovation by 18.0% in the second quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB now owns 398,600 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,718,000 after buying an additional 60,700 shares during the last quarter. FNY Investment Advisers LLC raised its stake in shares of Aurora Innovation by 20.2% in the 2nd quarter. FNY Investment Advisers LLC now owns 298,497 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,035,000 after acquiring an additional 50,097 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its holdings in Aurora Innovation by 79.7% in the 2nd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 8,501 shares of the company’s stock worth $58,000 after purchasing an additional 3,770 shares during the last quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc lifted its holdings in Aurora Innovation by 964.9% in the 2nd quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 8,019 shares of the company’s stock worth $55,000 after purchasing an additional 7,266 shares during the last quarter. Finally, CX Institutional boosted its position in Aurora Innovation by 4,070.6% during the second quarter. CX Institutional now owns 17,850 shares of the company’s stock worth $122,000 after purchasing an additional 17,422 shares during the period. 44.71% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Aurora Innovation Company Profile

Aurora Innovation, Inc is a technology company specializing in the development of self-driving vehicle systems for both passenger and commercial applications. Headquartered in Mountain View, California, Aurora has built an end-to-end platform—known as the Aurora Driver—that integrates proprietary software, machine learning algorithms and a suite of sensors (LiDAR, radar and cameras) to enable vehicles to operate safely and efficiently in diverse driving environments.

The company’s core business revolves around designing, testing and deploying its autonomy stack on vehicles from established automotive and transportation partners.