Aurinia Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:AUPH) Share Price Passes Above 50-Day Moving Average – Here’s Why

Aurinia Pharmaceuticals Inc (NASDAQ:AUPH) (TSE:AUP) shares passed above its 50-day moving average during trading on Friday . The stock has a 50-day moving average of $15.56 and traded as high as $15.61. Aurinia Pharmaceuticals shares last traded at $15.15, with a volume of 1,223,136 shares.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

AUPH has been the topic of several recent research reports. Leerink Partners downgraded shares of Aurinia Pharmaceuticals from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and upped their price objective for the company from $15.00 to $16.00 in a report on Wednesday, December 3rd. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Aurinia Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Bloom Burton lowered shares of Aurinia Pharmaceuticals from a “moderate buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 5th. Jefferies Financial Group raised shares of Aurinia Pharmaceuticals from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their target price for the company from $10.00 to $21.00 in a report on Friday, November 7th. Finally, Leerink Partnrs lowered Aurinia Pharmaceuticals from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 3rd. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $17.25.

Aurinia Pharmaceuticals Price Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15, a current ratio of 5.76 and a quick ratio of 5.17. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.00 billion, a PE ratio of 27.05 and a beta of 1.46. The business’s 50 day moving average is $15.56 and its two-hundred day moving average is $12.56.

Aurinia Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:AUPH) (TSE:AUP) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, November 4th. The biotechnology company reported $0.23 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.16 by $0.07. Aurinia Pharmaceuticals had a net margin of 29.28% and a return on equity of 25.19%. The company had revenue of $73.47 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $67.70 million. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Aurinia Pharmaceuticals Inc will post 0.11 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Trading of Aurinia Pharmaceuticals

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. purchased a new stake in shares of Aurinia Pharmaceuticals during the third quarter worth about $48,000. State of Alaska Department of Revenue bought a new stake in Aurinia Pharmaceuticals during the third quarter worth about $91,000. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Aurinia Pharmaceuticals in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $92,000. Bailard Inc. bought a new position in Aurinia Pharmaceuticals in the 2nd quarter worth about $99,000. Finally, USA Financial Formulas bought a new stake in Aurinia Pharmaceuticals during the 3rd quarter valued at about $107,000. Hedge funds and other 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.