PDT Partners LLC Invests $4.50 Million in Aurinia Pharmaceuticals Inc $AUPH

PDT Partners LLC acquired a new position in Aurinia Pharmaceuticals Inc (NASDAQ:AUPH) (TSE:AUP) during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 265,491 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,505,000. PDT Partners LLC owned about 0.20% of Aurinia Pharmaceuticals at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the business. Royal Bank of Canada grew its stake in shares of Aurinia Pharmaceuticals by 65.3% in the 1st quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 367,661 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $2,956,000 after buying an additional 145,179 shares in the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC grew its position in Aurinia Pharmaceuticals by 8.7% in the first quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 503,543 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $4,048,000 after acquiring an additional 40,380 shares in the last quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. increased its stake in Aurinia Pharmaceuticals by 4.6% during the first quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 79,811 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $642,000 after acquiring an additional 3,497 shares during the last quarter. Creative Planning raised its position in Aurinia Pharmaceuticals by 21.0% during the second quarter. Creative Planning now owns 20,699 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $175,000 after purchasing an additional 3,594 shares during the period. Finally, Legal & General Group Plc raised its position in Aurinia Pharmaceuticals by 16.5% during the second quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 141,492 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $1,201,000 after purchasing an additional 20,027 shares during the period. 36.83% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Aurinia Pharmaceuticals Trading Up 1.1%

Shares of AUPH opened at $16.75 on Wednesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.23 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.31 and a beta of 1.42. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07, a current ratio of 5.42 and a quick ratio of 4.97. Aurinia Pharmaceuticals Inc has a 1-year low of $10.34 and a 1-year high of $19.25. The company has a 50-day moving average of $15.97 and a 200 day moving average of $15.46.

Aurinia Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:AUPH) (TSE:AUP) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 6th. The biotechnology company reported $0.28 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.24 by $0.04. Aurinia Pharmaceuticals had a return on equity of 26.11% and a net margin of 100.84%.The firm had revenue of $58.57 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $80.45 million. On average, research analysts expect that Aurinia Pharmaceuticals Inc will post 0.79 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Aurinia Pharmaceuticals

In other news, CEO Kevin Tang purchased 206,005 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 2nd. The shares were acquired at an average price of $15.28 per share, with a total value of $3,147,756.40. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 13,044,106 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $199,313,939.68. This represents a 1.60% increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In the last three months, insiders acquired 814,606 shares of company stock valued at $12,455,129. 10.40% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms recently weighed in on AUPH. Wall Street Zen lowered Aurinia Pharmaceuticals from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday, August 8th. Royal Bank Of Canada boosted their price objective on shares of Aurinia Pharmaceuticals from $15.00 to $16.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Friday, August 7th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Aurinia Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Wednesday, August 12th. Zacks Research lowered shares of Aurinia Pharmaceuticals from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 21st. Finally, Bloom Burton upgraded shares of Aurinia Pharmaceuticals from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, August 20th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, one has assigned a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Aurinia Pharmaceuticals has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $17.67.

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.