Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. Buys Shares of 408,453 Aurinia Pharmaceuticals Inc $AUPH

Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. purchased a new position in shares of Aurinia Pharmaceuticals Inc (NASDAQ:AUPH) (TSE:AUP) during the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm purchased 408,453 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,931,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Royal Bank of Canada raised its position in Aurinia Pharmaceuticals by 65.3% during the first quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 367,661 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $2,956,000 after purchasing an additional 145,179 shares in the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Aurinia Pharmaceuticals by 8.7% in the 1st quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 503,543 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $4,048,000 after purchasing an additional 40,380 shares in the last quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. increased its stake in shares of Aurinia Pharmaceuticals by 4.6% in the 1st quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 79,811 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $642,000 after purchasing an additional 3,497 shares during the last quarter. Creative Planning increased its stake in shares of Aurinia Pharmaceuticals by 21.0% in the 2nd quarter. Creative Planning now owns 20,699 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $175,000 after purchasing an additional 3,594 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Legal & General Group Plc raised its holdings in shares of Aurinia Pharmaceuticals by 16.5% during the 2nd quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 141,492 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $1,201,000 after buying an additional 20,027 shares in the last quarter. 36.83% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Kevin Tang purchased 206,005 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 2nd. The stock was purchased at an average price of $15.28 per share, for a total transaction of $3,147,756.40. Following the acquisition, the chief executive officer owned 13,044,106 shares in the company, valued at $199,313,939.68. This trade represents a 1.60% increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Over the last three months, insiders have purchased 814,606 shares of company stock worth $12,455,129. Corporate insiders own 10.40% of the company’s stock.

Aurinia Pharmaceuticals Trading Down 1.3%

Shares of AUPH stock opened at $16.54 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $2.20 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.22 and a beta of 1.42. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $15.98 and a 200-day moving average of $15.47. The company has a current ratio of 5.42, a quick ratio of 4.97 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07. Aurinia Pharmaceuticals Inc has a 1-year low of $10.34 and a 1-year high of $19.25.

Aurinia Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:AUPH) (TSE:AUP) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 6th. The biotechnology company reported $0.28 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.24 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $58.57 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $80.45 million. Aurinia Pharmaceuticals had a return on equity of 26.11% and a net margin of 100.84%. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Aurinia Pharmaceuticals Inc will post 0.79 earnings per share for the current year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages recently weighed in on AUPH. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Aurinia Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Wednesday, August 12th. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Aurinia Pharmaceuticals from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday, August 8th. Bloom Burton upgraded shares of Aurinia Pharmaceuticals from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 20th. Zacks Research lowered shares of Aurinia Pharmaceuticals from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 21st. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada increased their price objective on shares of Aurinia Pharmaceuticals from $15.00 to $16.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Friday, August 7th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, one has assigned a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $17.67.

About Aurinia Pharmaceuticals

Aurinia Pharmaceuticals Inc is a clinical‐stage biopharmaceutical company focused on developing and commercializing therapies for autoimmune diseases. The company’s proprietary molecule, voclosporin, is designed to selectively inhibit calcineurin and reduce inflammation associated with autoimmune responses. Aurinia operates research and development facilities in Canada and the United States, leveraging collaborations with academic institutions and contract research organizations to advance its clinical pipeline.

The company’s lead product, voclosporin (marketed as LUPKYNIS), received approval from the U.S.