Aurinia Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:AUPH) Stock Price Down 6.3% on Insider Selling

Aurinia Pharmaceuticals Inc. (NASDAQ:AUPH – Get Rating) (TSE:AUP)’s share price traded down 6.3% during trading on Wednesday following insider selling activity. The company traded as low as $10.39 and last traded at $10.60. 801,917 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 75% from the average session volume of 3,255,495 shares. The stock had previously closed at $11.31.

Specifically, Director David R.W. Jayne sold 8,733 shares of Aurinia Pharmaceuticals stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $11.26, for a total value of $98,333.58. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 49,310 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $555,230.60. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other Aurinia Pharmaceuticals news, CFO Joseph M. Miller sold 11,296 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $8.94, for a total value of $100,986.24. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 331,214 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,961,053.16. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, Director David R.W. Jayne sold 8,733 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $11.26, for a total transaction of $98,333.58. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 49,310 shares in the company, valued at approximately $555,230.60. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 72,453 shares of company stock valued at $668,436 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 4.30% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

AUPH has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. StockNews.com assumed coverage on Aurinia Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Thursday, May 18th. They issued a “hold” rating for the company. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price objective on Aurinia Pharmaceuticals from $11.00 to $13.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, May 2nd. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $13.00.

Aurinia Pharmaceuticals Price Performance

The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $10.66 and a 200-day simple moving average of $8.18. The stock has a market cap of $1.49 billion, a P/E ratio of -15.58 and a beta of 1.18.

Aurinia Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:AUPH – Get Rating) (TSE:AUP) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 4th. The biotechnology company reported ($0.18) EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.23) by $0.05. The company had revenue of $34.41 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $28.12 million. Aurinia Pharmaceuticals had a negative return on equity of 23.56% and a negative net margin of 65.90%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 59.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned ($0.27) earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Aurinia Pharmaceuticals Inc. will post -0.71 earnings per share for the current year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Aurinia Pharmaceuticals

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Armistice Capital LLC increased its holdings in shares of Aurinia Pharmaceuticals by 590.6% during the fourth quarter. Armistice Capital LLC now owns 5,000,000 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $21,600,000 after acquiring an additional 4,276,000 shares in the last quarter. Bellevue Group AG boosted its position in Aurinia Pharmaceuticals by 6.6% in the third quarter. Bellevue Group AG now owns 2,846,457 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $21,405,000 after purchasing an additional 175,044 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp lifted its position in shares of Aurinia Pharmaceuticals by 5.3% during the 1st quarter. State Street Corp now owns 2,580,012 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $28,277,000 after buying an additional 130,465 shares during the last quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. purchased a new position in shares of Aurinia Pharmaceuticals during the 4th quarter valued at $9,431,000. Finally, BlackRock Inc. lifted its position in shares of Aurinia Pharmaceuticals by 0.4% during the 1st quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 1,827,416 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $22,624,000 after buying an additional 6,677 shares during the last quarter. 40.36% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Aurinia Pharmaceuticals Company Profile

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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 and internationally. The company offers LUPKYNIS for the treatment of adult patients with active lupus nephritis.