Dimensional Fund Advisors LP Boosts Holdings in Aura Biosciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:AURA)

Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its holdings in shares of Aura Biosciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:AURA) by 25.0% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 365,824 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 73,062 shares during the quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP’s holdings in Aura Biosciences were worth $3,007,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in AURA. Barclays PLC increased its stake in shares of Aura Biosciences by 19.2% in the fourth quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 72,725 shares of the company’s stock worth $598,000 after buying an additional 11,715 shares during the period. Renaissance Technologies LLC increased its stake in shares of Aura Biosciences by 489.4% in the fourth quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 83,700 shares of the company’s stock worth $688,000 after buying an additional 69,500 shares during the period. Wells Fargo & Company MN increased its stake in shares of Aura Biosciences by 27.3% in the fourth quarter. Wells Fargo & Company MN now owns 27,623 shares of the company’s stock worth $227,000 after buying an additional 5,930 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Aura Biosciences by 0.4% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,012,799 shares of the company’s stock worth $8,327,000 after buying an additional 3,972 shares during the period. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. increased its stake in shares of Aura Biosciences by 3.2% in the fourth quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 1,723,063 shares of the company’s stock worth $14,164,000 after buying an additional 54,103 shares during the period. 96.75% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Aura Biosciences

In other news, insider Conor Kilroy sold 7,162 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $5.49, for a total transaction of $39,319.38. Following the sale, the insider now owns 179,313 shares in the company, valued at approximately $984,428.37. The trade was a 3.84% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 14,148 shares of company stock valued at $91,434. 5.40% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts recently commented on AURA shares. HC Wainwright set a $25.00 target price on shares of Aura Biosciences in a research note on Tuesday, March 25th. Lifesci Capital raised shares of Aura Biosciences to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. JMP Securities set a $19.00 target price on shares of Aura Biosciences in a research note on Wednesday, March 26th. Finally, Citigroup reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of Aura Biosciences in a research note on Wednesday, March 26th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Aura Biosciences currently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $22.75.

Aura Biosciences Trading Down 1.7%

Shares of Aura Biosciences stock opened at $5.26 on Wednesday. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $6.08 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $7.67. The company has a market cap of $264.18 million, a P/E ratio of -3.04 and a beta of 0.43. Aura Biosciences, Inc. has a 12-month low of $4.84 and a 12-month high of $12.38.

Aura Biosciences (NASDAQ:AURA) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Monday, March 24th. The company reported ($0.52) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.43) by ($0.09). Analysts predict that Aura Biosciences, Inc. will post -1.66 EPS for the current fiscal year.

About Aura Biosciences

Aura Biosciences, Inc, a clinical-stage biotechnology company, develops precision immunotherapies to treat a range of solid tumors. The company's proprietary platform enables the targeting of a range of solid tumors using virus-like particles conjugated with drugs or loaded with nucleic acids to create virus-like drug conjugates.