Aurinia Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:AUPH) Stock Price Down 5.2% Following Analyst Downgrade

Aurinia Pharmaceuticals Inc (NASDAQ:AUPH) (TSE:AUP)’s share price traded down 5.2% on Wednesday after Leerink Partnrs downgraded the stock from a strong-buy rating to a hold rating. The company traded as low as $14.82 and last traded at $15.09. 710,077 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 57% from the average session volume of 1,663,782 shares. The stock had previously closed at $15.91.

Other equities research analysts have also issued reports about the company. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded Aurinia Pharmaceuticals from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price target for the company from $10.00 to $21.00 in a research report on Friday, November 7th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Aurinia Pharmaceuticals in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Leerink Partners cut shares of Aurinia Pharmaceuticals from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $15.00 to $16.00 in a research report on Wednesday. Royal Bank Of Canada reiterated a “sector perform” rating and issued a $15.00 target price (up from $9.00) on shares of Aurinia Pharmaceuticals in a report on Wednesday, November 5th. Finally, Bloom Burton lowered shares of Aurinia Pharmaceuticals from a “moderate buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 5th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Aurinia Pharmaceuticals currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $17.25.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Aurinia Pharmaceuticals

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Hussman Strategic Advisors Inc. lifted its position in shares of Aurinia Pharmaceuticals by 70.0% during the second quarter. Hussman Strategic Advisors Inc. now owns 357,000 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $3,024,000 after purchasing an additional 147,000 shares in the last quarter. Strs Ohio acquired a new position in shares of Aurinia Pharmaceuticals in the first quarter worth $636,000. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio purchased a new stake in shares of Aurinia Pharmaceuticals during the second quarter worth $282,000. Acropolis Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Aurinia Pharmaceuticals in the second quarter valued at $242,000. Finally, Vident Advisory LLC acquired a new position in Aurinia Pharmaceuticals during the 1st quarter worth $232,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 36.83% of the company’s stock.

Aurinia Pharmaceuticals Trading Down 1.1%

The company has a current ratio of 5.76, a quick ratio of 5.17 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15. The company has a market cap of $2.00 billion, a PE ratio of 27.03 and a beta of 1.42. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $13.46 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $11.16.

Aurinia Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:AUPH) (TSE:AUP) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, November 4th. The biotechnology company reported $0.23 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.16 by $0.07. Aurinia Pharmaceuticals had a return on equity of 25.19% and a net margin of 29.28%.The business had revenue of $73.47 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $67.70 million. Analysts anticipate that Aurinia Pharmaceuticals Inc will post 0.11 EPS for the current year.

Aurinia Pharmaceuticals Company Profile

Aurinia Pharmaceuticals Inc, a commercial-stage biopharmaceutical company, focuses on developing and commercializing therapies to treat various diseases with unmet medical need in the United States. It offers LUPKYNIS for the treatment of adult patients with active lupus nephritis. It has a collaboration and license agreement with Otsuka Pharmaceutical Co, Ltd.