StockNews.com Upgrades Aurinia Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:AUPH) to Buy

Aurinia Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:AUPH) (TSE:AUP) was upgraded by analysts at StockNews.com from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report issued on Friday.

AUPH has been the subject of several other reports. Royal Bank of Canada reduced their price target on Aurinia Pharmaceuticals from $13.00 to $8.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, February 16th. Jefferies Financial Group decreased their price target on shares of Aurinia Pharmaceuticals from $9.50 to $9.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, February 16th. HC Wainwright reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $13.00 target price on shares of Aurinia Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Friday, March 1st. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald decreased their price objective on Aurinia Pharmaceuticals from $12.00 to $10.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, February 23rd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Aurinia Pharmaceuticals currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $10.00.

Aurinia Pharmaceuticals Stock Performance

Shares of AUPH stock opened at $5.10 on Friday. Aurinia Pharmaceuticals has a 52 week low of $4.71 and a 52 week high of $12.43. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $5.20 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $7.10. The firm has a market cap of $729.40 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -11.86 and a beta of 1.36. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20, a quick ratio of 4.99 and a current ratio of 5.50.

Aurinia Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:AUPH) (TSE:AUP) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 15th. The biotechnology company reported ($0.19) EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.16) by ($0.03). Aurinia Pharmaceuticals had a negative return on equity of 14.79% and a negative net margin of 32.69%. The company had revenue of $45.10 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $45.00 million. During the same period last year, the firm posted ($0.18) EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 58.8% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Aurinia Pharmaceuticals will post -0.06 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Trading of Aurinia Pharmaceuticals

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. GSA Capital Partners LLP lifted its stake in shares of Aurinia Pharmaceuticals by 196.1% in the 1st quarter. GSA Capital Partners LLP now owns 349,204 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $1,750,000 after acquiring an additional 231,260 shares during the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB lifted its position in Aurinia Pharmaceuticals by 51.7% in the first quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 308,500 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $1,552,000 after purchasing an additional 105,100 shares during the last quarter. Capstone Investment Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Aurinia Pharmaceuticals in the first quarter valued at approximately $158,000. BNP Paribas Financial Markets grew 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 worth $393,000 after purchasing an additional 8,398 shares during the last quarter. Finally, China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. increased its stake 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 buying an additional 11,189 shares during the period. 36.83% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Aurinia Pharmaceuticals Company Profile

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.