Cetera Investment Advisers Lowers Stake in Aurinia Pharmaceuticals Inc (NASDAQ:AUPH)

Cetera Investment Advisers lowered its position in shares of Aurinia Pharmaceuticals Inc (NASDAQ:AUPH) (TSE:AUP) by 3.4% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 62,459 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock after selling 2,179 shares during the quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers’ holdings in Aurinia Pharmaceuticals were worth $502,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd purchased a new position in shares of Aurinia Pharmaceuticals in the first quarter worth $140,000. IFP Advisors Inc lifted its holdings in shares of Aurinia Pharmaceuticals by 2.4% in the first quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 277,580 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $2,232,000 after buying an additional 6,448 shares in the last quarter. Hussman Strategic Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Aurinia Pharmaceuticals in the first quarter worth $1,688,000. Rice Hall James & Associates LLC purchased a new position in shares of Aurinia Pharmaceuticals in the first quarter worth $1,813,000. Finally, CWM LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Aurinia Pharmaceuticals by 66.1% in the first quarter. CWM LLC now owns 21,944 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $176,000 after buying an additional 8,733 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 36.83% of the company’s stock.

Aurinia Pharmaceuticals Price Performance

Aurinia Pharmaceuticals stock opened at $12.27 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $1.62 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.54 and a beta of 1.23. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $9.08 and its 200 day moving average is $8.39. The company has a quick ratio of 4.63, a current ratio of 5.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18. Aurinia Pharmaceuticals Inc has a 52-week low of $5.51 and a 52-week high of $12.48.

Aurinia Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:AUPH) (TSE:AUP) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 31st. The biotechnology company reported $0.16 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.17 by ($0.01). The business had revenue of $70.01 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $64.27 million. Aurinia Pharmaceuticals had a net margin of 23.31% and a return on equity of 20.06%. Sell-side analysts forecast that Aurinia Pharmaceuticals Inc will post 0.11 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Aurinia Pharmaceuticals

In other Aurinia Pharmaceuticals news, Director Kevin Tang purchased 200,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 5th. The shares were bought at an average price of $11.68 per share, with a total value of $2,336,000.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director directly owned 11,329,500 shares in the company, valued at $132,328,560. This trade represents a 1.80% increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Insiders have acquired a total of 1,300,000 shares of company stock worth $13,590,000 over the last quarter. 12.20% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

AUPH has been the topic of several research analyst reports. HC Wainwright reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $17.00 target price on shares of Aurinia Pharmaceuticals in a report on Wednesday, July 30th. Royal Bank Of Canada boosted their target price on shares of Aurinia Pharmaceuticals from $8.00 to $9.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, August 1st.

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.