Aurinia Pharmaceuticals Inc (NASDAQ:AUPH) Given Consensus Recommendation of "Hold" by Analysts

Key Points

• Analysts have a consensus rating of Hold on Aurinia (six analysts: four hold, two buy) with an average 1‑year target price of $17.25.
• Aurinia materially beat recent expectations, reporting Q4 EPS of $1.53 vs. $0.21 expected and revenue of $77.11M vs. $74.70M, with a reported net margin of 101.46%.
• Insider activity is notable: Director Kevin Tang acquired 516,439 shares at ~$13.99 (a ~4.56% increase in his stake); insiders own 12.20% of the stock and institutions hold 36.83%.

Aurinia Pharmaceuticals Inc (NASDAQ:AUPH - Get Free Report) TSE: AUP has earned an average recommendation of "Hold" from the six analysts that are currently covering the stock, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and two have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1 year target price among analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $17.25.

Separately, Weiss Ratings reissued a "hold (c)" rating on shares of Aurinia Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Wednesday, January 21st.

Aurinia Pharmaceuticals Price Performance

AUPH stock opened at $15.61 on Monday. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.08 billion, a PE ratio of 7.50 and a beta of 1.51. Aurinia Pharmaceuticals has a 52 week low of $6.82 and a 52 week high of $16.54. The company has a quick ratio of 4.76, a current ratio of 5.25 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $14.51 and a 200 day moving average of $14.33.

Aurinia Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:AUPH - Get Free Report) TSE: AUP last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 26th. The biotechnology company reported $1.53 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.21 by $1.32. Aurinia Pharmaceuticals had a net margin of 101.46% and a return on equity of 27.47%. The business had revenue of $77.11 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $74.70 million. Sell-side analysts forecast that Aurinia Pharmaceuticals will post 0.11 earnings per share for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Kevin Tang acquired 516,439 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 27th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $13.99 per share, with a total value of $7,224,981.61. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director owned 11,845,939 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $165,724,686.61. This trade represents a 4.56% increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Insiders own 12.20% of the company's stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Aurinia Pharmaceuticals

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Corient Private Wealth LLC raised its position in Aurinia Pharmaceuticals by 864.5% during the 4th quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC now owns 275,472 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $4,394,000 after buying an additional 246,912 shares during the last quarter. nVerses Capital LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Aurinia Pharmaceuticals in the 4th quarter valued at $406,000. Uniplan Investment Counsel Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Aurinia Pharmaceuticals by 31.3% in the 4th quarter. Uniplan Investment Counsel Inc. now owns 120,202 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $1,917,000 after acquiring an additional 28,645 shares during the last quarter. Voloridge Investment Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Aurinia Pharmaceuticals by 44.3% in the fourth quarter. Voloridge Investment Management LLC now owns 739,444 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $11,794,000 after acquiring an additional 226,875 shares during the period. Finally, Wellington Management Group LLP increased its stake in shares of Aurinia Pharmaceuticals by 4.7% in the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 53,721 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $857,000 after acquiring an additional 2,421 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors 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.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.