Lazard Asset Management LLC Sells 106,820 Shares of Aurinia Pharmaceuticals Inc $AUPH

Key Points

• Lazard Asset Management cut its Aurinia Pharmaceuticals stake by 43.7% in the first quarter, selling 106,820 shares and retaining 137,355 shares valued at approximately $2.04 million.
• Other institutional investors generally increased their positions, and hedge funds and institutional investors collectively own 36.83% of Aurinia’s stock.
• Analysts maintain a consensus “Hold” rating with an average price target of $17.33, while CEO Kevin Tang purchased 206,005 shares; the company’s latest quarterly EPS of $0.25 exceeded estimates.

Lazard Asset Management LLC lowered its position in shares of Aurinia Pharmaceuticals Inc (NASDAQ:AUPH - Free Report) TSE: AUP by 43.7% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 137,355 shares of the biotechnology company's stock after selling 106,820 shares during the period. Lazard Asset Management LLC owned approximately 0.11% of Aurinia Pharmaceuticals worth $2,036,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership boosted its stake in Aurinia Pharmaceuticals by 0.4% during the 4th quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 3,387,194 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $54,026,000 after purchasing an additional 13,173 shares during the last quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC raised its stake in shares of Aurinia Pharmaceuticals by 4.6% in the first quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 1,663,835 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $24,658,000 after purchasing an additional 73,700 shares during the last quarter. Marshall Wace LLP lifted its holdings in shares of Aurinia Pharmaceuticals by 6.2% during the fourth quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 1,574,957 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $25,121,000 after purchasing an additional 91,825 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Aurinia Pharmaceuticals by 1.5% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,507,869 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $24,047,000 after purchasing an additional 22,169 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Two Sigma Investments LP boosted its position in shares of Aurinia Pharmaceuticals by 728.6% during the third quarter. Two Sigma Investments LP now owns 1,341,067 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $14,819,000 after buying an additional 1,179,219 shares during the last quarter. 36.83% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts recently commented on AUPH shares. Weiss Ratings downgraded Aurinia Pharmaceuticals from a "buy (b-)" rating to a "hold (c+)" rating in a report on Friday, May 15th. Zacks Research downgraded shares of Aurinia Pharmaceuticals from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 21st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $17.33.

Insider Activity

In other Aurinia Pharmaceuticals news, CEO Kevin Tang purchased 206,005 shares of Aurinia Pharmaceuticals stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 2nd. The stock was purchased at an average price of $15.28 per share, with a total value of $3,147,756.40. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 13,044,106 shares of the company's stock, valued at $199,313,939.68. This trade represents a 1.60% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. In the last ninety days, insiders bought 814,606 shares of company stock worth $12,455,129. Insiders own 10.40% of the company's stock.

Aurinia Pharmaceuticals Price Performance

NASDAQ AUPH opened at $14.88 on Monday. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.91 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 6.86 and a beta of 1.42. Aurinia Pharmaceuticals Inc has a 1-year low of $8.85 and a 1-year high of $19.25. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08, a current ratio of 5.55 and a quick ratio of 5.01. The business's fifty day moving average price is $15.95 and its 200-day moving average price is $15.34.

Aurinia Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:AUPH - Get Free Report) TSE: AUP last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 7th. The biotechnology company reported $0.25 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.18 by $0.07. The company had revenue of $77.71 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $76.98 million. Aurinia Pharmaceuticals had a return on equity of 26.62% and a net margin of 99.97%. On average, equities analysts predict that Aurinia Pharmaceuticals Inc will post 0.81 earnings per share for the current year.

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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