Aurora Innovation (NASDAQ:AUR) Stock Price Up 5.9% – Time to Buy?

Shares of Aurora Innovation, Inc. (NASDAQ:AUR) were up 5.9% during mid-day trading on Wednesday . The stock traded as high as $6.72 and last traded at $6.6850. Approximately 12,782,264 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 45% from the average daily volume of 23,121,775 shares. The stock had previously closed at $6.31.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts recently commented on AUR shares. Craig Hallum began coverage on Aurora Innovation in a research report on Friday, June 5th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $18.00 price target on the stock. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Aurora Innovation in a research report on Friday, July 17th. TD Cowen increased their price objective on shares of Aurora Innovation from $4.70 to $7.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 7th. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $12.00 target price on shares of Aurora Innovation in a report on Thursday. Finally, Wall Street Zen cut shares of Aurora Innovation from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Sunday, April 26th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have issued a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Aurora Innovation presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $12.22.

Aurora Innovation Price Performance

The business’s fifty day moving average price is $6.57 and its 200 day moving average price is $5.40. The stock has a market cap of $11.75 billion, a P/E ratio of -13.61 and a beta of 2.63.

Aurora Innovation (NASDAQ:AUR) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 6th. The company reported ($0.11) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.12) by $0.01. The company had revenue of $1.00 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $0.97 million. Aurora Innovation had a negative net margin of 20,775.00% and a negative return on equity of 40.45%. Aurora Innovation’s revenue for the quarter was down 66.7% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts predict that Aurora Innovation, Inc. will post -0.47 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Reid Hoffman sold 1,202,354 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $7.27, for a total transaction of $8,741,113.58. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director David M. Wehner bought 82,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, June 11th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $6.04 per share, with a total value of $498,300.00. Following the acquisition, the director owned 246,519 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,488,974.76. This represents a 50.30% increase in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this purchase are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 7,048,487 shares of company stock worth $54,295,119. Insiders own 8.52% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Aurora Innovation

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in AUR. Handelsbanken Fonder AB raised its holdings in Aurora Innovation by 18.0% in the 2nd quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB now owns 398,600 shares of the company’s stock valued at $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% during the second 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 during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Aurora Innovation by 79.7% during the second 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 period. Versant Capital Management Inc grew its stake in shares of Aurora Innovation by 964.9% in the second 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 grew its stake in shares of Aurora Innovation by 4,070.6% in 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 last quarter. 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.