Brokerages Set Aurinia Pharmaceuticals Inc (NASDAQ:AUPH) Price Target at $17.25

Shares of Aurinia Pharmaceuticals Inc (NASDAQ:AUPH) (TSE:AUP) have received a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” from the seven analysts that are currently covering the firm, Marketbeat reports. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, two have issued a buy recommendation and one has assigned a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 1 year target price among brokers that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $17.25.

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on the company. Zacks Research upgraded Aurinia Pharmaceuticals from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, June 29th. Weiss Ratings lowered shares of Aurinia Pharmaceuticals from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research report on Friday, May 15th.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO Kevin Tang bought 343,620 shares of Aurinia Pharmaceuticals stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 1st. The stock was bought at an average price of $15.28 per share, for a total transaction of $5,250,513.60. Following the purchase, the chief executive officer owned 12,838,101 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $196,166,183.28. The trade was a 2.75% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In the last ninety days, insiders have acquired 814,606 shares of company stock worth $12,455,129. 12.20% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its stake in shares of Aurinia Pharmaceuticals by 21.7% during the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 533,290 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $5,893,000 after buying an additional 94,941 shares in the last quarter. Tudor Investment Corp ET AL acquired a new stake in shares of Aurinia Pharmaceuticals in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $729,000. Ritholtz Wealth Management lifted its holdings in shares of Aurinia Pharmaceuticals by 206.2% in the 4th quarter. Ritholtz Wealth Management now owns 258,816 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $4,128,000 after buying an additional 174,301 shares during the period. Cvfg LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Aurinia Pharmaceuticals in the first quarter valued at approximately $1,000,000. Finally, Los Angeles Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Aurinia Pharmaceuticals in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $1,970,000. 36.83% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Aurinia Pharmaceuticals Stock Up 0.1%

AUPH opened at $15.96 on Wednesday. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $16.04 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $15.37. The company has a quick ratio of 5.01, a current ratio of 5.55 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08. The company has a market cap of $2.05 billion, a PE ratio of 7.35 and a beta of 1.41. Aurinia Pharmaceuticals has a 52 week low of $8.55 and a 52 week high of $19.25.

Aurinia Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:AUPH) (TSE:AUP) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 7th. The biotechnology company reported $0.25 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.18 by $0.07. Aurinia Pharmaceuticals had a return on equity of 26.62% and a net margin of 99.97%.The company had revenue of $77.71 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $76.98 million. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Aurinia Pharmaceuticals will post 0.82 EPS for the current year.

Aurinia Pharmaceuticals Company Profile

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.