D. E. Shaw & Co. Inc. Acquires 39,384 Shares of Aurinia Pharmaceuticals Inc. (NASDAQ:AUPH)

D. E. Shaw & Co. Inc. raised its position in shares of Aurinia Pharmaceuticals Inc. (NASDAQ:AUPH - Free Report) TSE: AUP by 41.9% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 133,333 shares of the biotechnology company's stock after purchasing an additional 39,384 shares during the period. D. E. Shaw & Co. Inc. owned approximately 0.09% of Aurinia Pharmaceuticals worth $1,197,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Deutsche Bank AG increased its stake in shares of Aurinia Pharmaceuticals by 54.8% in the 4th quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 142,869 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $1,283,000 after purchasing an additional 50,575 shares during the last quarter. Cubist Systematic Strategies LLC boosted its stake in Aurinia Pharmaceuticals by 724.4% in the fourth quarter. Cubist Systematic Strategies LLC now owns 168,252 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $1,511,000 after buying an additional 147,843 shares in the last quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers grew its position in Aurinia Pharmaceuticals by 3.2% in the fourth quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 64,638 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $580,000 after acquiring an additional 2,000 shares during the last quarter. Bridgefront Capital LLC raised its stake in Aurinia Pharmaceuticals by 12.9% during the fourth quarter. Bridgefront Capital LLC now owns 16,606 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $149,000 after acquiring an additional 1,891 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald L. P. bought a new position in shares of Aurinia Pharmaceuticals in the fourth quarter worth about $647,000. 36.83% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Aurinia Pharmaceuticals

In other news, CEO Peter Greenleaf sold 195,593 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Monday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $8.00, for a total value of $1,564,744.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,953,892 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $15,631,136. This represents a 9.10% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Greg Keenan sold 12,239 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Monday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $8.00, for a total transaction of $97,912.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 161,789 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,294,312. The trade was a 7.03% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 343,898 shares of company stock worth $2,753,094 over the last three months. Company insiders own 12.20% of the company's stock.

Aurinia Pharmaceuticals Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ AUPH traded down $0.07 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, hitting $8.08. 146,988 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,329,898. The company has a market cap of $1.09 billion, a PE ratio of -54.23 and a beta of 1.16. Aurinia Pharmaceuticals Inc. has a twelve month low of $5.11 and a twelve month high of $10.67. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.17, a current ratio of 5.60 and a quick ratio of 5.11. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $8.01 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $8.27.

Aurinia Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:AUPH - Get Free Report) TSE: AUP last posted its earnings results on Monday, May 12th. The biotechnology company reported $0.16 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.08 by $0.08. The firm had revenue of $62.47 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $61.06 million. Aurinia Pharmaceuticals had a negative return on equity of 4.41% and a negative net margin of 10.23%. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Aurinia Pharmaceuticals Inc. will post 0.11 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Separately, Wall Street Zen raised shares of Aurinia Pharmaceuticals from a "buy" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Thursday, March 27th.

Aurinia Pharmaceuticals 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.