Bloom Burton Upgrades Aurinia Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:AUPH) to Strong-Buy

Aurinia Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:AUPH) (TSE:AUP) was upgraded by stock analysts at Bloom Burton from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note issued to investors on Thursday,Zacks.com reports.

Several other research firms have also recently weighed in on AUPH. Zacks Research cut Aurinia Pharmaceuticals from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 21st. Wall Street Zen downgraded Aurinia Pharmaceuticals from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday, August 8th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Aurinia Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Wednesday, August 12th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada raised their price target 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, August 7th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, one has assigned a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Aurinia Pharmaceuticals presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $17.67.

Aurinia Pharmaceuticals Price Performance

Aurinia Pharmaceuticals stock opened at $17.27 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $2.30 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.54 and a beta of 1.42. The company has a current ratio of 5.42, a quick ratio of 4.97 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07. Aurinia Pharmaceuticals has a 12 month low of $10.34 and a 12 month high of $19.25. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $15.93 and its 200-day moving average is $15.42.

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

Insider Transactions at Aurinia Pharmaceuticals

In related news, CEO Kevin Tang purchased 206,005 shares of Aurinia Pharmaceuticals stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 13,044,106 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $199,313,939.68. This represents a 1.60% increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Insiders purchased a total of 814,606 shares of company stock worth $12,455,129 over the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 10.40% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Aurinia Pharmaceuticals

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Royal Bank of Canada grew its holdings in shares of Aurinia Pharmaceuticals by 65.3% during the 1st quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 367,661 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $2,956,000 after purchasing an additional 145,179 shares in the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC raised its stake 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 valued at $4,048,000 after purchasing an additional 40,380 shares in the last quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. lifted its position 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 purchasing an additional 3,497 shares during the period. Creative Planning lifted 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 worth $175,000 after purchasing an additional 3,594 shares during the period. Finally, Legal & General Group Plc grew its stake 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 worth $1,201,000 after buying an additional 20,027 shares in the last quarter. 36.83% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.