Aurinia Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:AUPH) Upgraded to “Buy” at StockNews.com

Aurinia Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:AUPH) (TSE:AUP) was upgraded by equities researchers at StockNews.com from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note issued to investors on Friday.

Other analysts also recently issued reports about the stock. Royal Bank of Canada reduced their price target on shares of Aurinia Pharmaceuticals from $13.00 to $8.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, February 16th. HC Wainwright reissued a “buy” rating and set a $13.00 target price on shares of Aurinia Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Friday, March 1st. Jefferies Financial Group cut their target price on Aurinia Pharmaceuticals from $9.50 to $9.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, February 16th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald lowered their price target on Aurinia Pharmaceuticals from $12.00 to $10.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, February 23rd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $10.00.

Aurinia Pharmaceuticals Stock Down 1.4 %

Aurinia Pharmaceuticals stock traded down $0.07 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $5.10. 1,696,428 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,123,705. Aurinia Pharmaceuticals has a 1-year low of $4.71 and a 1-year high of $12.43. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $5.20 and a two-hundred day moving average of $7.11. The stock has a market cap of $729.40 million, a P/E ratio of -9.44 and a beta of 1.36. The company has a current ratio of 5.50, a quick ratio of 4.99 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20.

Aurinia Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:AUPH) (TSE:AUP) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 15th. The biotechnology company reported ($0.19) earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.16) by ($0.03). The company had revenue of $45.10 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $45.00 million. Aurinia Pharmaceuticals had a negative net margin of 44.45% and a negative return on equity of 20.10%. The firm’s revenue was up 58.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted ($0.18) earnings per share. As a group, analysts anticipate that Aurinia Pharmaceuticals will post -0.06 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Aurinia Pharmaceuticals

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. lifted its position in Aurinia Pharmaceuticals by 95.9% during the 3rd quarter. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 3,673 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $29,000 after buying an additional 1,798 shares in the last quarter. Vermillion & White Wealth Management Group LLC bought a new position in Aurinia Pharmaceuticals in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Tidemark LLC acquired a new position in shares of Aurinia Pharmaceuticals during the 4th quarter worth approximately $39,000. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale bought a new stake in shares of Aurinia Pharmaceuticals during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $65,000. Finally, Eagle Asset Management Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Aurinia Pharmaceuticals in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $92,000. Institutional investors own 36.83% of the company’s stock.

About Aurinia Pharmaceuticals

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.