Aurinia Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:AUPH) Hits New 12-Month High – Should You Buy?

Aurinia Pharmaceuticals Inc (NASDAQ:AUPH) (TSE:AUP)’s stock price hit a new 52-week high during trading on Monday . The stock traded as high as $17.75 and last traded at $18.0440, with a volume of 68761 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $16.46.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Separately, Weiss Ratings downgraded Aurinia Pharmaceuticals from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research note on Friday, May 15th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $17.25.

Aurinia Pharmaceuticals Stock Performance

The stock has a market cap of $2.28 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.12 and a beta of 1.41. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08, a current ratio of 5.55 and a quick ratio of 5.01. The company has a fifty day moving average of $15.79 and a 200 day moving average of $15.27.

Aurinia Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:AUPH) (TSE:AUP) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 7th. The biotechnology company reported $0.25 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.18 by $0.07. Aurinia Pharmaceuticals had a return on equity of 26.62% and a net margin of 99.97%.The firm had revenue of $77.71 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $76.98 million. On average, equities analysts predict that Aurinia Pharmaceuticals Inc will post 0.82 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Aurinia Pharmaceuticals

In other news, CEO Kevin Tang bought 206,005 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the purchase, the chief executive officer directly 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 acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Insiders acquired a total of 814,606 shares of company stock valued at $12,455,129 in the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 12.20% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Aurinia Pharmaceuticals

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in AUPH. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its stake in Aurinia Pharmaceuticals by 21.7% during the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 533,290 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $5,893,000 after purchasing an additional 94,941 shares during the period. Tudor Investment Corp ET AL purchased a new stake in Aurinia Pharmaceuticals in the 3rd quarter worth about $729,000. Ritholtz Wealth Management boosted its position in Aurinia Pharmaceuticals by 206.2% during the 4th quarter. Ritholtz Wealth Management now owns 258,816 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $4,128,000 after acquiring an additional 174,301 shares during the period. SG Americas Securities LLC grew its stake in Aurinia Pharmaceuticals by 69.6% during the 4th quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 136,224 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $2,173,000 after acquiring an additional 55,903 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Los Angeles Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Aurinia Pharmaceuticals in the 4th quarter valued at about $1,970,000. 36.83% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.