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

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

AUPH has been the subject of several other research reports. Royal Bank of Canada lowered their target price on shares of Aurinia Pharmaceuticals from $13.00 to $8.00 and set an outperform rating for the company in a research note on Friday, February 16th. HC Wainwright reiterated a buy rating and set a $13.00 target price on shares of Aurinia Pharmaceuticals in a report on Friday, March 1st. Cantor Fitzgerald lowered 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. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group dropped their price target on Aurinia Pharmaceuticals from $9.50 to $9.00 and set a hold rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, February 16th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and an average price target of $10.00.

Aurinia Pharmaceuticals Stock Performance

AUPH stock opened at $5.10 on Friday. Aurinia Pharmaceuticals has a twelve month low of $4.71 and a twelve month high of $12.43. The company has a quick ratio of 4.99, a current ratio of 5.50 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20. The company has a market cap of $729.40 million, a P/E ratio of -11.86 and a beta of 1.36. The business’s fifty day moving average is $5.20 and its 200-day moving average is $7.10.

Aurinia Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:AUPH) (TSE:AUP) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 15th. The biotechnology company reported ($0.19) EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.16) by ($0.03). The company had revenue of $45.10 million during 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% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted ($0.18) EPS. Equities research analysts forecast that Aurinia Pharmaceuticals will post -0.06 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Trading of Aurinia Pharmaceuticals

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. GSA Capital Partners LLP boosted 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 buying an additional 231,260 shares during the period. Nordea Investment Management AB boosted its position 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 acquiring an additional 105,100 shares during the last quarter. Capstone Investment Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Aurinia Pharmaceuticals during the 1st quarter worth approximately $158,000. BNP Paribas Financial Markets raised its holdings in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 8,398 shares during the last quarter. Finally, China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. lifted its position 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 worth $139,000 after purchasing an additional 11,189 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 36.83% of the company’s stock.

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.