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

StockNews.com upgraded shares of Aurinia Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:AUPH) (TSE:AUP) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a research note published on Friday morning.

A number of other equities research analysts have also recently weighed in on AUPH. Cantor Fitzgerald dropped their price target on Aurinia Pharmaceuticals from $12.00 to $10.00 and set an overweight rating for the company in a report on Friday, February 23rd. Jefferies Financial Group lowered their target price on Aurinia Pharmaceuticals from $9.50 to $9.00 and set a hold rating for the company in a research note on Friday, February 16th. HC Wainwright reaffirmed a buy rating and issued a $13.00 target price on shares of Aurinia Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Friday, March 1st. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada dropped their price objective on shares of Aurinia Pharmaceuticals from $13.00 to $8.00 and set an outperform rating for the company in a research report on Friday, February 16th. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus price target of $10.00.

Aurinia Pharmaceuticals Price Performance

Shares of AUPH traded down $0.07 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $5.10. The company had a trading volume of 1,696,503 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,382,709. The company’s 50-day moving average is $5.20 and its 200-day moving average is $7.11. 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 has a twelve month low of $4.71 and a twelve month high of $12.43.

Aurinia Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:AUPH) (TSE:AUP) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 15th. The biotechnology company reported ($0.19) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.16) by ($0.03). The firm had revenue of $45.10 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $45.00 million. Aurinia Pharmaceuticals had a negative net margin of 32.69% and a negative return on equity of 14.79%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 58.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned ($0.18) earnings per share. On average, research analysts anticipate that Aurinia Pharmaceuticals will post -0.06 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. GSA Capital Partners LLP raised its position in shares of Aurinia Pharmaceuticals by 196.1% during the first quarter. GSA Capital Partners LLP now owns 349,204 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $1,750,000 after purchasing an additional 231,260 shares during the period. Nordea Investment Management AB increased its stake in Aurinia Pharmaceuticals by 51.7% during the 1st quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 308,500 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $1,552,000 after purchasing an additional 105,100 shares in the last quarter. Capstone Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Aurinia Pharmaceuticals during the 1st quarter worth approximately $158,000. BNP Paribas Financial Markets lifted its stake in Aurinia Pharmaceuticals by 12.0% in the first quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 78,466 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $393,000 after buying an additional 8,398 shares in the last quarter. Finally, China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. boosted its holdings in shares of Aurinia Pharmaceuticals by 67.4% in the first quarter. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 27,802 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $139,000 after buying an additional 11,189 shares during the period. 36.83% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.