Aurinia Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:AUPH) Posts Quarterly Earnings Results, Beats Expectations By $0.04 EPS

Aurinia Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:AUPH) (TSE:AUP) issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday. The biotechnology company reported $0.28 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.24 by $0.04, FiscalAI reports. The company had revenue of $58.57 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $80.45 million. Aurinia Pharmaceuticals had a return on equity of 26.62% and a net margin of 99.97%.

Aurinia Pharmaceuticals Trading Up 6.2%

Shares of AUPH stock traded up $0.94 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $16.13. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 2,235,261 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,256,978. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $15.92 and its 200-day simple moving average is $15.34. Aurinia Pharmaceuticals has a 52 week low of $10.34 and a 52 week high of $19.25. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08, a quick ratio of 5.01 and a current ratio of 5.55. The company has a market cap of $2.07 billion, a PE ratio of 7.43 and a beta of 1.42.

Analyst Ratings Changes

AUPH has been the topic of several analyst reports. Zacks Research cut Aurinia Pharmaceuticals from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 21st. Weiss Ratings downgraded shares of Aurinia Pharmaceuticals from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research report on Friday, May 15th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $17.33.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Aurinia Pharmaceuticals news, CEO Kevin Tang bought 206,005 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, June 2nd. The stock was acquired at an average price of $15.28 per share, with a total value of $3,147,756.40. Following the completion of the purchase, the chief executive officer directly owned 13,044,106 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $199,313,939.68. This trade represents a 1.60% increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Insiders purchased a total of 814,606 shares of company stock worth $12,455,129 over the last ninety days. Company insiders own 10.40% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Aurinia Pharmaceuticals

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of AUPH. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership increased its stake in shares of Aurinia Pharmaceuticals by 0.4% in the 4th quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 3,387,194 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $54,026,000 after acquiring an additional 13,173 shares in the last quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC boosted its stake in Aurinia Pharmaceuticals by 9.7% during the fourth quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 1,590,135 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $25,363,000 after acquiring an additional 140,535 shares in the last quarter. Marshall Wace LLP grew its holdings in Aurinia Pharmaceuticals by 6.2% in the fourth quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 1,574,957 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $25,121,000 after purchasing an additional 91,825 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Aurinia Pharmaceuticals by 1.5% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,507,869 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $24,047,000 after purchasing an additional 22,169 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Two Sigma Investments LP increased its stake in Aurinia Pharmaceuticals by 728.6% in the third quarter. Two Sigma Investments LP now owns 1,341,067 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $14,819,000 after purchasing an additional 1,179,219 shares in the last quarter. 36.83% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.