Centaurus Financial Inc. Makes New $904,000 Investment in Aurinia Pharmaceuticals Inc $AUPH

Centaurus Financial Inc. bought a new position in Aurinia Pharmaceuticals Inc (NASDAQ:AUPH) (TSE:AUP) during the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor bought 61,020 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock, valued at approximately $904,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of AUPH. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership raised its position in shares of Aurinia Pharmaceuticals by 0.4% in the 4th quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 3,387,194 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $54,026,000 after purchasing an additional 13,173 shares during the last quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC boosted its stake in Aurinia Pharmaceuticals by 4.6% in the 1st quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 1,663,835 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $24,658,000 after purchasing an additional 73,700 shares in the last quarter. Marshall Wace LLP grew its position in Aurinia Pharmaceuticals by 6.2% during the 4th quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 1,574,957 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $25,121,000 after purchasing an additional 91,825 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in Aurinia Pharmaceuticals by 1.5% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,507,869 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $24,047,000 after purchasing an additional 22,169 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Two Sigma Investments LP grew its position in Aurinia Pharmaceuticals by 728.6% during the 3rd quarter. Two Sigma Investments LP now owns 1,341,067 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $14,819,000 after purchasing an additional 1,179,219 shares during the last quarter. 36.83% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

AUPH has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Weiss Ratings cut shares of Aurinia Pharmaceuticals from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a report on Friday, May 15th. Zacks Research cut shares of Aurinia Pharmaceuticals from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 21st. One analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $17.33.

Insider Activity at Aurinia Pharmaceuticals

In related news, CEO Kevin Tang purchased 206,005 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 2nd. The stock was acquired at an average price of $15.28 per share, with a total value of $3,147,756.40. Following the completion of the acquisition, the chief executive officer 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 transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In the last ninety days, insiders acquired 814,606 shares of company stock valued at $12,455,129. Corporate insiders own 10.40% of the company’s stock.

Aurinia Pharmaceuticals Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ AUPH opened at $14.88 on Friday. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $15.95 and its 200-day moving average price is $15.34. Aurinia Pharmaceuticals Inc has a 52-week low of $8.85 and a 52-week high of $19.25. The company has a market cap of $1.91 billion, a PE ratio of 6.86 and a beta of 1.41. The company has a quick ratio of 5.01, a current ratio of 5.55 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08.

Aurinia Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:AUPH) (TSE:AUP) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 7th. The biotechnology company reported $0.25 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.18 by $0.07. The firm had revenue of $77.71 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $76.98 million. Aurinia Pharmaceuticals had a net margin of 99.97% and a return on equity of 26.62%. As a group, analysts anticipate that Aurinia Pharmaceuticals Inc will post 0.81 EPS for the current 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.