Aurinia Pharmaceuticals Inc (NASDAQ:AUPH) Receives Average Recommendation of “Hold” from Brokerages

Aurinia Pharmaceuticals Inc (NASDAQ:AUPH) (TSE:AUP) has been assigned an average recommendation of “Hold” from the six brokerages that are presently covering the stock, MarketBeat reports. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and two have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12-month price objective among brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $17.25.

Several analysts recently issued reports on the company. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Aurinia Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Wednesday, January 21st. Leerink Partners lowered shares of Aurinia Pharmaceuticals from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $15.00 to $16.00 in a report on Wednesday, December 3rd.

Insider Activity at Aurinia Pharmaceuticals

In other news, Director Kevin Tang acquired 516,439 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 27th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $13.99 per share, for a total transaction of $7,224,981.61. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 11,845,939 shares in the company, valued at approximately $165,724,686.61. This trade represents a 4.56% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 12.20% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Aurinia Pharmaceuticals

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. BOK Financial Private Wealth Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Aurinia Pharmaceuticals during the 4th quarter worth approximately $32,000. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. purchased a new position in shares of Aurinia Pharmaceuticals in the third quarter valued at $48,000. Kemnay Advisory Services Inc. bought a new stake in Aurinia Pharmaceuticals in the fourth quarter worth $82,000. State of Alaska Department of Revenue bought a new stake in Aurinia Pharmaceuticals in the third quarter worth $91,000. Finally, Bailard Inc. purchased a new stake in Aurinia Pharmaceuticals during the second quarter valued at $99,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 36.83% of the company’s stock.

Aurinia Pharmaceuticals Stock Up 2.6%

Shares of AUPH stock opened at $14.31 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09, a current ratio of 5.25 and a quick ratio of 4.76. Aurinia Pharmaceuticals has a one year low of $6.82 and a one year high of $16.54. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $14.65 and its 200-day moving average price is $14.11. The company has a market capitalization of $1.90 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 6.88 and a beta of 1.53.

Aurinia Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:AUPH) (TSE:AUP) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, February 26th. The biotechnology company reported $1.53 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.21 by $1.32. The company had revenue of $77.11 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $74.70 million. Aurinia Pharmaceuticals had a net margin of 101.46% and a return on equity of 27.47%. Sell-side analysts expect that Aurinia Pharmaceuticals will post 0.11 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.