Aurinia Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:AUPH) Share Price Crosses Below Two Hundred Day Moving Average - Here's What Happened

Key Points

• Aurinia Pharmaceuticals shares fell below their 200-day moving average of $15.39, trading as low as $15.07 before closing at $15.29.
• Analyst sentiment remains cautious, with a consensus “Hold” rating and a $17.67 price target. Recent actions included an RBC target increase to $16 and downgrades from Zacks Research and Wall Street Zen.
• The company beat quarterly EPS estimates with $0.28 versus $0.24 expected, but revenue of $58.57 million fell short of the $80.45 million consensus. Insiders bought 814,606 shares in the past 90 days, while institutional investors own 36.83% of the stock.

Shares of Aurinia Pharmaceuticals Inc (NASDAQ:AUPH - Get Free Report) TSE: AUP crossed below its two hundred day moving average during trading on Monday . The stock has a two hundred day moving average of $15.39 and traded as low as $15.07. Aurinia Pharmaceuticals shares last traded at $15.29, with a volume of 996,713 shares trading hands.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts recently commented on AUPH shares. 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. Zacks Research lowered shares of Aurinia Pharmaceuticals from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 21st. 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. Finally, Weiss Ratings restated a "hold (c+)" rating on shares of Aurinia Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Wednesday, August 12th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Aurinia Pharmaceuticals currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $17.67.

Aurinia Pharmaceuticals Stock Performance

The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $15.91 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $15.39. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07, a quick ratio of 4.97 and a current ratio of 5.42. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.03 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 6.68 and a beta of 1.42.

Aurinia Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:AUPH - Get Free Report) TSE: AUP last announced its quarterly earnings data 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 the consensus estimate of $80.45 million. Analysts forecast that Aurinia Pharmaceuticals Inc will post 0.79 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Aurinia Pharmaceuticals news, CEO Kevin Tang purchased 206,005 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 2nd. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $15.28 per share, with a total value of $3,147,756.40. Following the completion of the purchase, the chief executive officer owned 13,044,106 shares in the company, valued at $199,313,939.68. This represents a 1.60% increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Insiders purchased 814,606 shares of company stock valued at $12,455,129 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 10.40% of the company's stock.

Institutional Trading of Aurinia Pharmaceuticals

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. BlackRock Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Aurinia Pharmaceuticals in the 2nd quarter valued at $139,037,000. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership boosted its stake in Aurinia Pharmaceuticals by 213.5% during the third quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 3,374,021 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $37,283,000 after acquiring an additional 2,297,903 shares in the last quarter. Marshall Wace LLP boosted its stake in Aurinia Pharmaceuticals by 1,272.5% during the third quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 1,483,132 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $16,389,000 after acquiring an additional 1,375,072 shares in the last quarter. Kotler Kevin acquired a new stake in Aurinia Pharmaceuticals in the fourth quarter worth $19,536,000. Finally, Two Sigma Investments LP grew 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 worth $14,819,000 after purchasing an additional 1,179,219 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 36.83% of the company's stock.

Aurinia Pharmaceuticals Company 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.

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