Rice Hall James & Associates LLC Lowers Stock Holdings in Aurinia Pharmaceuticals Inc $AUPH

Rice Hall James & Associates LLC trimmed its holdings in shares of Aurinia Pharmaceuticals Inc (NASDAQ:AUPH) (TSE:AUP) by 8.6% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 495,636 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock after selling 46,919 shares during the period. Rice Hall James & Associates LLC owned approximately 0.38% of Aurinia Pharmaceuticals worth $7,905,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. BOK Financial Private Wealth Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Aurinia Pharmaceuticals during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $32,000. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. purchased a new position in shares of Aurinia Pharmaceuticals during the third quarter valued at approximately $48,000. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. lifted its holdings in shares of Aurinia Pharmaceuticals by 25.9% during the fourth quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 6,407 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $102,000 after purchasing an additional 1,318 shares during the last quarter. Cornerstone Investment Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of Aurinia Pharmaceuticals during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $178,000. Finally, Mach 1 Financial Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of Aurinia Pharmaceuticals during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $181,000. 36.83% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Separately, Weiss Ratings lowered shares of Aurinia Pharmaceuticals from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a report on Friday, May 15th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $17.25.

Insider Activity at Aurinia Pharmaceuticals

In other Aurinia Pharmaceuticals news, CEO Kevin Tang bought 206,005 shares of Aurinia Pharmaceuticals stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 2nd. The stock was acquired at an average price of $15.28 per share, with a total value of $3,147,756.40. Following the acquisition, the chief executive officer owned 13,044,106 shares in the company, valued at approximately $199,313,939.68. This trade represents a 1.60% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Over the last three months, insiders acquired 814,606 shares of company stock valued at $12,455,129. 12.20% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Aurinia Pharmaceuticals Stock Up 1.1%

Aurinia Pharmaceuticals stock opened at $16.00 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $2.06 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.37 and a beta of 1.41. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $15.75 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $15.27. Aurinia Pharmaceuticals Inc has a 12 month low of $7.28 and a 12 month high of $16.88. The company has a current ratio of 5.55, a quick ratio of 5.01 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08.

Aurinia Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:AUPH) (TSE:AUP) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, May 7th. The biotechnology company reported $0.25 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.18 by $0.07. The business had revenue of $77.71 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $76.98 million. Aurinia Pharmaceuticals had a return on equity of 26.62% and a net margin of 99.97%. Equities analysts predict that Aurinia Pharmaceuticals Inc will post 0.82 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.