Legal & General Group Plc Invests $1.75 Million in Aurinia Pharmaceuticals Inc $AUPH

Legal & General Group Plc acquired a new stake in Aurinia Pharmaceuticals Inc (NASDAQ:AUPH) (TSE:AUP) in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm acquired 104,414 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,747,000. Legal & General Group Plc owned about 0.08% of Aurinia Pharmaceuticals at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in AUPH. BlackRock Inc. bought a new position in shares of Aurinia Pharmaceuticals during the second quarter valued at $139,037,000. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership grew its stake in shares of Aurinia Pharmaceuticals by 213.5% in the third quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 3,374,021 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $37,283,000 after purchasing an additional 2,297,903 shares during the last quarter. Marshall Wace LLP grew its stake in shares of Aurinia Pharmaceuticals by 1,272.5% in the third quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 1,483,132 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $16,389,000 after purchasing an additional 1,375,072 shares during the last quarter. Kotler Kevin acquired a new stake in Aurinia Pharmaceuticals in the fourth quarter valued at $19,536,000. Finally, Two Sigma Investments LP increased its holdings 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 during the period. Institutional investors own 36.83% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have commented on AUPH shares. Wall Street Zen downgraded Aurinia Pharmaceuticals from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday, August 8th. Weiss Ratings raised Aurinia Pharmaceuticals from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 26th. Bloom Burton upgraded Aurinia Pharmaceuticals from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 20th. Royal Bank Of Canada lifted their price objective on Aurinia Pharmaceuticals from $15.00 to $16.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Friday, August 7th. Finally, Zacks Research cut Aurinia Pharmaceuticals from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 21st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have given a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Aurinia Pharmaceuticals has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $17.67.

Aurinia Pharmaceuticals Stock Performance

Shares of AUPH opened at $16.08 on Monday. The company has a current ratio of 5.42, a quick ratio of 4.97 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $15.81 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $15.56. Aurinia Pharmaceuticals Inc has a 12 month low of $10.34 and a 12 month high of $19.25. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.14 billion, a P/E ratio of 7.02 and a beta of 1.40.

Aurinia Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:AUPH) (TSE:AUP) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 6th. The biotechnology company reported $0.28 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.24 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $58.57 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $80.45 million. Aurinia Pharmaceuticals had a return on equity of 26.11% and a net margin of 100.84%. As a group, analysts predict that Aurinia Pharmaceuticals Inc will post 0.79 EPS for the current year.

Aurinia Pharmaceuticals 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.