Insider Selling: Aura Biosciences (NASDAQ:AURA) Insider Sells 20,401 Shares of Stock

Aura Biosciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:AURA) insider Janet Jill Hopkins sold 20,401 shares of Aura Biosciences stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $5.06, for a total transaction of $103,229.06. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 232,284 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,175,357.04. This represents a 8.07% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link.

Aura Biosciences Stock Down 5.7%

AURA traded down $0.32 during trading on Tuesday, hitting $5.25. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 463,309 shares, compared to its average volume of 180,467. The stock has a market capitalization of $333.38 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -2.71 and a beta of 0.46. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $5.60 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $5.97. Aura Biosciences, Inc. has a 12 month low of $4.34 and a 12 month high of $8.03.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Aura Biosciences

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC increased its position 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 worth $40,000 after buying an additional 2,104 shares during the last quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Aura Biosciences in the 4th quarter valued at $59,000. Water Island Capital LLC bought a new stake in Aura Biosciences in the 3rd quarter valued at $64,000. 49 Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in Aura Biosciences during the 3rd quarter valued at $66,000. Finally, Invesco Ltd. acquired a new position in shares of Aura Biosciences in the second quarter valued at $76,000. 96.75% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on the stock. Evercore began coverage on shares of Aura Biosciences in a research note on Tuesday, November 25th. They issued an “outperform” rating on the stock. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Aura Biosciences in a research report on Monday, December 29th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $20.50.

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.