PDT Partners LLC Acquires New Holdings in Aurinia Pharmaceuticals Inc $AUPH

PDT Partners LLC acquired a new position in Aurinia Pharmaceuticals Inc (NASDAQ:AUPH) (TSE:AUP) in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 265,491 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,505,000.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Royal Bank of Canada boosted its position in Aurinia Pharmaceuticals by 65.3% during the 1st quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 367,661 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $2,956,000 after acquiring an additional 145,179 shares in the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Aurinia Pharmaceuticals by 8.7% in the 1st quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 503,543 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $4,048,000 after acquiring an additional 40,380 shares during the period. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. raised its position in shares of Aurinia Pharmaceuticals by 4.6% in the 1st quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 79,811 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $642,000 after acquiring an additional 3,497 shares in the last quarter. Creative Planning raised its position in shares of Aurinia Pharmaceuticals by 21.0% in the 2nd quarter. Creative Planning now owns 20,699 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $175,000 after acquiring an additional 3,594 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Legal & General Group Plc raised its position in shares of Aurinia Pharmaceuticals by 16.5% in the 2nd quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 141,492 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $1,201,000 after acquiring an additional 20,027 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 36.83% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on AUPH. Royal Bank Of Canada raised their price objective on Aurinia Pharmaceuticals from $15.00 to $16.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Friday, August 7th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Aurinia Pharmaceuticals in a report on Wednesday, August 12th. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Aurinia Pharmaceuticals from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, August 8th. Zacks Research cut shares of Aurinia Pharmaceuticals from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 21st. Finally, Bloom Burton raised shares of Aurinia Pharmaceuticals from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 20th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, one has given a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $17.67.

Aurinia Pharmaceuticals Stock Performance

Shares of AUPH opened at $16.75 on Wednesday. Aurinia Pharmaceuticals Inc has a 12 month low of $10.34 and a 12 month high of $19.25. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $15.97 and a 200-day moving average price of $15.46. 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 has a market cap of $2.23 billion, a PE ratio of 7.31 and a beta of 1.42.

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 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 firm had revenue of $58.57 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $80.45 million. Equities research analysts predict that Aurinia Pharmaceuticals Inc will post 0.79 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Aurinia Pharmaceuticals news, CEO Kevin Tang purchased 206,005 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 acquisition, the chief executive officer owned 13,044,106 shares in the company, valued at $199,313,939.68. The trade was a 1.60% increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Insiders bought 814,606 shares of company stock valued at $12,455,129 in the last three months. Company insiders own 10.40% of the company’s stock.

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.