Aurinia Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:AUPH) Raised to Strong-Buy at Zacks Research

Aurinia Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:AUPH) (TSE:AUP) was upgraded by research analysts at Zacks Research from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note issued on Monday,Zacks.com reports.

Separately, Weiss Ratings downgraded shares of Aurinia Pharmaceuticals from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research note on Friday, May 15th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have assigned a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $17.25.

Aurinia Pharmaceuticals Trading Up 1.1%

NASDAQ AUPH opened at $16.97 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08, a quick ratio of 5.01 and a current ratio of 5.55. The firm has a market cap of $2.18 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.82 and a beta of 1.41. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $16.01 and a 200-day simple moving average of $15.37. Aurinia Pharmaceuticals has a one year low of $7.28 and a one year high of $19.25.

Aurinia Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:AUPH) (TSE:AUP) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, May 7th. The biotechnology company reported $0.25 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.18 by $0.07. Aurinia Pharmaceuticals had a net margin of 99.97% and a return on equity of 26.62%. The firm had revenue of $77.71 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $76.98 million. Equities research analysts anticipate that Aurinia Pharmaceuticals will post 0.82 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Aurinia Pharmaceuticals

In related news, CEO Kevin Tang acquired 206,005 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 2nd. The stock was acquired at an average price of $15.28 per share, for a total transaction of $3,147,756.40. Following the purchase, the chief executive officer owned 13,044,106 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $199,313,939.68. This represents a 1.60% increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Over the last quarter, insiders bought 814,606 shares of company stock valued at $12,455,129. 12.20% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Aurinia Pharmaceuticals

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership raised its holdings in Aurinia Pharmaceuticals by 0.4% in the fourth quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 3,387,194 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $54,026,000 after acquiring an additional 13,173 shares in the last quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC grew its holdings in Aurinia Pharmaceuticals by 4.6% during the 1st quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 1,663,835 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $24,658,000 after acquiring an additional 73,700 shares in the last quarter. Marshall Wace LLP grew its holdings in Aurinia Pharmaceuticals by 6.2% during the 4th quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 1,574,957 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $25,121,000 after acquiring an additional 91,825 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of Aurinia Pharmaceuticals by 1.5% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,507,869 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $24,047,000 after purchasing an additional 22,169 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Two Sigma Investments LP increased its position in shares of 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 valued at $14,819,000 after purchasing an additional 1,179,219 shares during the last quarter. 36.83% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.