Aurinia Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:AUPH) Shares Up 6.1% After Analyst Upgrade

Key Points

• Aurinia Pharmaceuticals' stock rose 6.1% after the Royal Bank of Canada upgraded its price target from $8.00 to $9.00, maintaining an outperform rating.
• Institutional investors have been actively modifying their holdings, with a reported 36.83% of shares owned by institutional investors, including significant new positions from several firms.
• The company recently reported quarterly earnings of $0.16 EPS, missing estimates, but exceeding revenue expectations with $70.01 million in revenue for the quarter.

Aurinia Pharmaceuticals Inc (NASDAQ:AUPH - Get Free Report) TSE: AUP shares rose 6.1% during trading on Friday 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 $9.89 and last traded at $9.81. Approximately 1,153,172 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 22% from the average daily volume of 1,485,440 shares. The stock had previously closed at $9.25.

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

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Aurinia Pharmaceuticals

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in Aurinia Pharmaceuticals in the 4th quarter valued at $215,000. American Century Companies Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Aurinia Pharmaceuticals by 124.2% in the fourth quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 171,590 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $1,541,000 after purchasing an additional 95,066 shares during the last quarter. KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS purchased a new stake in Aurinia Pharmaceuticals during the 4th quarter valued at $201,000. LPL Financial LLC raised its holdings in Aurinia Pharmaceuticals by 21.8% in the fourth quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 46,600 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $418,000 after purchasing an additional 8,327 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Aurinia Pharmaceuticals by 6.9% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,729,948 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $15,535,000 after acquiring an additional 112,113 shares during the last quarter. 36.83% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Aurinia Pharmaceuticals Price Performance

The company has a market capitalization of $1.53 billion, a PE ratio of 26.99 and a beta of 1.23. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18, a current ratio of 5.23 and a quick ratio of 4.63. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $8.35 and a 200 day moving average of $8.14.

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

About Aurinia Pharmaceuticals

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.