Rice Hall James & Associates LLC Decreases Holdings in Aurinia Pharmaceuticals Inc $AUPH

Rice Hall James & Associates LLC cut its stake in shares of Aurinia Pharmaceuticals Inc (NASDAQ:AUPH) (TSE:AUP) by 8.6% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 495,636 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock after selling 46,919 shares during the quarter. Rice Hall James & Associates LLC’s holdings in Aurinia Pharmaceuticals were worth $7,905,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. raised its stake in Aurinia Pharmaceuticals by 25.9% during the 4th quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 6,407 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $102,000 after buying an additional 1,318 shares during the last quarter. MML Investors Services LLC raised its stake in Aurinia Pharmaceuticals by 12.7% during the 4th quarter. MML Investors Services LLC now owns 15,643 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $250,000 after buying an additional 1,765 shares during the last quarter. BOK Financial Private Wealth Inc. purchased a new stake in Aurinia Pharmaceuticals during the 4th quarter valued at $32,000. Concurrent Investment Advisors LLC raised its stake in Aurinia Pharmaceuticals by 7.8% during the 4th quarter. Concurrent Investment Advisors LLC now owns 30,270 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $483,000 after buying an additional 2,200 shares during the last quarter. Finally, CWM LLC raised its stake in Aurinia Pharmaceuticals by 15.5% during the 4th quarter. CWM LLC now owns 16,543 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $264,000 after buying an additional 2,225 shares during the last quarter. 36.83% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Aurinia Pharmaceuticals Price Performance

Shares of AUPH opened at $16.00 on Tuesday. The company has a current ratio of 5.55, a quick ratio of 5.01 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08. The firm has a market cap of $2.06 billion, a PE ratio of 7.37 and a beta of 1.41. Aurinia Pharmaceuticals Inc has a 1-year low of $7.28 and a 1-year high of $16.88. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $15.75 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $15.27.

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

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

Insider Activity at Aurinia Pharmaceuticals

In related news, CEO Kevin Tang acquired 206,005 shares of Aurinia Pharmaceuticals stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 2nd. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $15.28 per share, for a total transaction of $3,147,756.40. Following the purchase, the chief executive officer directly owned 13,044,106 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $199,313,939.68. This trade represents a 1.60% increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In the last ninety days, insiders acquired 814,606 shares of company stock valued at $12,455,129. Corporate insiders own 12.20% of the company’s stock.

Aurinia Pharmaceuticals 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.