Aurinia Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:AUPH) Downgraded to Buy Rating by Wall Street Zen

Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Aurinia Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:AUPH) (TSE:AUP) from a strong-buy rating to a buy rating in a report released on Saturday.

Other equities research analysts have also recently issued reports about the stock. Weiss Ratings cut shares of Aurinia Pharmaceuticals from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a report on Friday, May 15th. Royal Bank Of Canada lifted their price target on Aurinia Pharmaceuticals from $15.00 to $16.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Friday. Finally, Zacks Research downgraded Aurinia Pharmaceuticals from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 21st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Aurinia Pharmaceuticals currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $17.67.

Aurinia Pharmaceuticals Price Performance

Shares of AUPH opened at $15.85 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $2.04 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 6.92 and a beta of 1.42. Aurinia Pharmaceuticals has a 1-year low of $10.34 and a 1-year high of $19.25. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $15.95 and its 200 day simple moving average is $15.35. 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 announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 6th. The biotechnology company reported $0.28 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.24 by $0.04. Aurinia Pharmaceuticals had a net margin of 100.84% and a return on equity of 27.53%. The firm had revenue of $58.57 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $80.45 million. On average, research analysts forecast that Aurinia Pharmaceuticals will post 0.81 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Aurinia Pharmaceuticals

In related news, CEO Kevin Tang acquired 206,005 shares of Aurinia Pharmaceuticals stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 2nd. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $15.28 per share, with a total value of $3,147,756.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 13,044,106 shares in the company, valued at $199,313,939.68. This trade represents a 1.60% increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Over the last three months, insiders acquired 814,606 shares of company stock worth $12,455,129. Company insiders own 10.40% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Aurinia Pharmaceuticals

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Royal Bank of Canada grew its stake in Aurinia Pharmaceuticals by 65.3% in the 1st quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 367,661 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $2,956,000 after buying an additional 145,179 shares during the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC lifted its position in Aurinia Pharmaceuticals by 8.7% during the first quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 503,543 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $4,048,000 after acquiring an additional 40,380 shares during the last quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. lifted its position in Aurinia Pharmaceuticals by 4.6% during the first quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 79,811 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $642,000 after acquiring an additional 3,497 shares during the last quarter. Creative Planning boosted its holdings in shares of Aurinia Pharmaceuticals by 21.0% during the second quarter. Creative Planning now owns 20,699 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $175,000 after acquiring an additional 3,594 shares during the period. Finally, Legal & General Group Plc boosted its holdings in shares of Aurinia Pharmaceuticals by 16.5% during the second quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 141,492 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $1,201,000 after acquiring an additional 20,027 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 36.83% of the company’s stock.

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.