Aurinia Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:AUPH) Cut to “Buy” at Wall Street Zen

Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Aurinia Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:AUPH) (TSE:AUP) from a strong-buy rating to a buy rating in a report issued on Saturday morning.

Other analysts have also recently issued research reports about the company. Zacks Research cut Aurinia Pharmaceuticals from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 21st. Weiss Ratings lowered Aurinia Pharmaceuticals from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a report on Friday, May 15th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada upped their price objective on shares of Aurinia Pharmaceuticals from $15.00 to $16.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Friday. One analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $17.67.

Aurinia Pharmaceuticals Trading Down 2.5%

Aurinia Pharmaceuticals stock opened at $15.45 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07, a quick ratio of 4.97 and a current ratio of 5.42. Aurinia Pharmaceuticals has a fifty-two week low of $10.34 and a fifty-two week high of $19.25. The stock has a market cap of $2.06 billion, a P/E ratio of 6.75 and a beta of 1.42. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $15.95 and its 200-day moving average price is $15.36.

Aurinia Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:AUPH) (TSE:AUP) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 6th. The biotechnology company reported $0.28 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.24 by $0.04. Aurinia Pharmaceuticals had a return on equity of 26.11% and a net margin of 100.84%.The company had revenue of $58.57 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $80.45 million. Equities research analysts forecast that Aurinia Pharmaceuticals will post 0.81 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Aurinia Pharmaceuticals

In related news, CEO Kevin Tang bought 343,620 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 1st. The stock was bought at an average cost of $15.28 per share, for a total transaction of $5,250,513.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 12,838,101 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $196,166,183.28. The trade was a 2.75% increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Insiders have acquired 814,606 shares of company stock valued at $12,455,129 in the last ninety days. 10.40% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Aurinia Pharmaceuticals

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. BOK Financial Private Wealth Inc. bought a new position in shares of Aurinia Pharmaceuticals during the 4th quarter valued at about $32,000. Global Retirement Partners LLC bought a new stake in Aurinia Pharmaceuticals in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $41,000. Frazier Financial Advisors LLC lifted its position in Aurinia Pharmaceuticals by 411.9% in the 1st quarter. Frazier Financial Advisors LLC now owns 3,471 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $51,000 after buying an additional 2,793 shares during the last quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. purchased a new stake in Aurinia Pharmaceuticals in the third quarter worth approximately $48,000. Finally, Kemnay Advisory Services Inc. purchased a new stake in Aurinia Pharmaceuticals in the fourth quarter worth approximately $82,000. Institutional investors own 36.83% of the company’s stock.

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.