Aurinia Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:AUPH) Reaches New 12-Month High Following Analyst Upgrade

Key Points

• Aurinia Pharmaceuticals achieved a new 52-week high of $11.19 after receiving an analyst upgrade from the Royal Bank of Canada, which raised its price target from $8.00 to $9.00.
• Institutional investors have been actively increasing their holdings in Aurinia, with Deutsche Bank AG boosting its shares by 54.8% in the fourth quarter.
• In its recent quarterly earnings, the company reported $0.16 EPS, missing estimates, but surpassed revenue expectations with $70.01 million compared to the projected $64.27 million.

Aurinia Pharmaceuticals Inc (NASDAQ:AUPH - Get Free Report) TSE: AUP's share price hit a new 52-week high during trading on Monday after Royal Bank Of Canada raised their price target on the stock from $8.00 to $9.00. Royal Bank Of Canada currently has an outperform rating on the stock. Aurinia Pharmaceuticals traded as high as $11.19 and last traded at $11.43, with a volume of 574650 shares. The stock had previously closed at $10.49.

Separately, HC Wainwright reiterated a "buy" rating and issued a $17.00 price target on shares of Aurinia Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Wednesday, July 30th.

Insider Transactions at Aurinia Pharmaceuticals

In other Aurinia Pharmaceuticals news, Director Kevin Tang purchased 200,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 5th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $11.68 per share, for a total transaction of $2,336,000.00. Following the purchase, the director owned 11,329,500 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $132,328,560. This represents a 1.80% increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. In the last ninety days, insiders acquired 1,300,000 shares of company stock valued at $13,590,000. Corporate insiders own 12.20% of the company's stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. grew its position in shares of Aurinia Pharmaceuticals by 6.3% during the second quarter. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. now owns 84,165 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $713,000 after purchasing an additional 5,000 shares in the last quarter. Creative Planning grew its position in shares of Aurinia Pharmaceuticals by 21.0% during the second quarter. Creative Planning now owns 20,699 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $175,000 after purchasing an additional 3,594 shares in the last quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC grew its position in shares of Aurinia Pharmaceuticals by 85.9% during the second quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 84,092 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $712,000 after purchasing an additional 38,849 shares in the last quarter. Bailard Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Aurinia Pharmaceuticals during the second quarter valued at about $99,000. Finally, Jupiter Asset Management Ltd. grew its position in shares of Aurinia Pharmaceuticals by 24.1% during the second quarter. Jupiter Asset Management Ltd. now owns 933,862 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $7,910,000 after purchasing an additional 181,093 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 36.83% of the company's stock.

Aurinia Pharmaceuticals Trading Down 0.5%

The stock has a market cap of $1.50 billion, a PE ratio of 26.44 and a beta of 1.23. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $8.70 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $8.26. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18, a current ratio of 5.23 and a quick ratio of 4.63.

Aurinia Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:AUPH - Get Free Report) TSE: AUP last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 31st. The biotechnology company reported $0.16 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.17 by ($0.01). The firm had revenue of $70.01 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $64.27 million. Aurinia Pharmaceuticals had a net margin of 23.31% and a return on equity of 20.06%. Sell-side analysts forecast that Aurinia Pharmaceuticals Inc will post 0.11 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Aurinia Pharmaceuticals Company Profile

Aurinia Pharmaceuticals Inc, a commercial-stage biopharmaceutical company, focuses on developing and commercializing therapies to treat various diseases with unmet medical need in the United States. It offers LUPKYNIS for the treatment of adult patients with active lupus nephritis. It has a collaboration and license agreement with Otsuka Pharmaceutical Co, Ltd.