Aurinia Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:AUPH) Trading 9.1% Higher Following Analyst Upgrade

Shares of Aurinia Pharmaceuticals Inc (NASDAQ:AUPH) (TSE:AUP) traded up 9.1% during trading on Thursday after Bloom Burton upgraded the stock from a hold rating to a strong-buy rating. The stock traded as high as $17.80 and last traded at $17.6420. Approximately 421,079 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 66% from the average daily volume of 1,241,123 shares. The stock had previously closed at $16.17.

Other research analysts have also recently issued research reports about the company. Wall Street Zen cut Aurinia Pharmaceuticals from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday, August 8th. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Aurinia Pharmaceuticals in a report on Wednesday, August 12th. Zacks Research lowered Aurinia Pharmaceuticals from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 21st. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada upped their target price on Aurinia Pharmaceuticals from $15.00 to $16.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Friday, August 7th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, one has given a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $17.67.

Insider Buying and Selling at Aurinia Pharmaceuticals

In other news, CEO Kevin Tang purchased 343,620 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 1st. The shares were acquired at an average price of $15.28 per share, for a total transaction of $5,250,513.60. Following the completion of the acquisition, the chief executive officer directly owned 12,838,101 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $196,166,183.28. The trade was a 2.75% increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Insiders have purchased 814,606 shares of company stock valued at $12,455,129 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 10.40% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Aurinia Pharmaceuticals

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in AUPH. BlackRock Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Aurinia Pharmaceuticals in the second quarter worth $139,037,000. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership raised its position in Aurinia Pharmaceuticals by 213.5% during the third quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 3,374,021 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $37,283,000 after buying an additional 2,297,903 shares during the period. Marshall Wace LLP raised its position in Aurinia Pharmaceuticals by 1,272.5% during the third quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 1,483,132 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $16,389,000 after buying an additional 1,375,072 shares during the period. Kotler Kevin purchased a new stake in Aurinia Pharmaceuticals in the 4th quarter worth about $19,536,000. Finally, Two Sigma Investments LP lifted its stake in Aurinia Pharmaceuticals by 728.6% in the 3rd quarter. Two Sigma Investments LP now owns 1,341,067 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $14,819,000 after acquiring an additional 1,179,219 shares in the last quarter. 36.83% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Aurinia Pharmaceuticals Price Performance

The stock has a market capitalization of $2.22 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.27 and a beta of 1.42. The company has a current ratio of 5.42, a quick ratio of 4.97 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $15.95 and a 200 day simple moving average of $15.43.

Aurinia Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:AUPH) (TSE:AUP) last released its earnings results on Thursday, August 6th. The biotechnology company reported $0.28 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.24 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $58.57 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations 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 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Aurinia Pharmaceuticals Company Profile

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.