Aurinia Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:AUPH) Trading 9.1% Higher – Time to Buy?

Shares of Aurinia Pharmaceuticals Inc (NASDAQ:AUPH) (TSE:AUP) shot up 9.1% on Thursday . The stock traded as high as $17.80 and last traded at $17.6420. 421,079 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 66% from the average session volume of 1,241,123 shares. The stock had previously closed at $16.17.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Aurinia Pharmaceuticals from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, August 8th. Royal Bank Of Canada boosted their price objective on shares of Aurinia Pharmaceuticals from $15.00 to $16.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Friday, August 7th. Zacks Research lowered shares of Aurinia Pharmaceuticals from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 21st. Finally, Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Aurinia Pharmaceuticals in a report on Wednesday, August 12th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Aurinia Pharmaceuticals has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $17.67.

Aurinia Pharmaceuticals Stock Up 5.6%

The firm has a market cap of $2.27 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.45 and a beta of 1.42. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $15.91 and a 200-day moving average of $15.40. The company has a current ratio of 5.42, a quick ratio of 4.97 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07.

Aurinia Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:AUPH) (TSE:AUP) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, August 6th. The biotechnology company reported $0.28 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.24 by $0.04. Aurinia Pharmaceuticals had a return on equity of 26.11% and a net margin of 100.84%.The company had revenue of $58.57 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $80.45 million. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Aurinia Pharmaceuticals Inc will post 0.79 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Aurinia Pharmaceuticals

In other news, CEO Kevin Tang acquired 206,005 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, June 2nd. The shares were acquired at an average price of $15.28 per share, with a total value of $3,147,756.40. Following the acquisition, the chief executive officer directly owned 13,044,106 shares in the company, valued at approximately $199,313,939.68. The trade was a 1.60% increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Over the last 90 days, insiders have bought 814,606 shares of company stock valued at $12,455,129. 10.40% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Aurinia Pharmaceuticals

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Navellier & Associates Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Aurinia Pharmaceuticals by 123.7% during the second quarter. Navellier & Associates Inc. now owns 257,142 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $4,364,000 after buying an additional 142,206 shares during the last quarter. Centaurus Financial Inc. bought a new position in Aurinia Pharmaceuticals in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $1,113,000. Corient Private Wealth LP acquired a new stake in Aurinia Pharmaceuticals in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $355,000. Bank of America Corp DE acquired a new stake in Aurinia Pharmaceuticals in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $3,820,000. Finally, Freestone Grove Partners LP acquired a new stake in Aurinia Pharmaceuticals in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $979,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.