JPMorgan Chase & Co. Boosts Stake in Aurinia Pharmaceuticals Inc. (NASDAQ:AUPH)

JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its holdings in shares of Aurinia Pharmaceuticals Inc. (NASDAQ:AUPH - Free Report) TSE: AUP by 84.4% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 927,298 shares of the biotechnology company's stock after acquiring an additional 424,482 shares during the quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. owned about 0.65% of Aurinia Pharmaceuticals worth $8,327,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. FMR LLC grew its stake in Aurinia Pharmaceuticals by 44.8% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 12,673 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $93,000 after buying an additional 3,919 shares in the last quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets raised its position in Aurinia Pharmaceuticals by 172.9% during the third quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 32,078 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $235,000 after purchasing an additional 20,324 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp lifted its stake in Aurinia Pharmaceuticals by 2.3% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 2,945,060 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $21,587,000 after purchasing an additional 64,949 shares during the last quarter. Barclays PLC boosted its holdings in shares of Aurinia Pharmaceuticals by 187.6% in the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 219,331 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $1,607,000 after purchasing an additional 143,072 shares in the last quarter. Finally, CWA Asset Management Group LLC bought a new position in shares of Aurinia Pharmaceuticals during the 4th quarter valued at about $399,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 36.83% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Separately, StockNews.com upgraded shares of Aurinia Pharmaceuticals from a "buy" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, March 27th.

Aurinia Pharmaceuticals Trading Up 1.2 %

AUPH traded up $0.09 on Friday, hitting $7.76. 929,141 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,350,101. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.17, a quick ratio of 5.11 and a current ratio of 5.60. Aurinia Pharmaceuticals Inc. has a 12 month low of $4.77 and a 12 month high of $10.67. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $7.99 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $8.12. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.07 billion, a PE ratio of -51.74 and a beta of 1.20.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Peter Greenleaf sold 195,593 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $8.00, for a total transaction of $1,564,744.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 1,953,892 shares in the company, valued at $15,631,136. This represents a 9.10 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Greg Keenan sold 12,239 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $8.00, for a total transaction of $97,912.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 161,789 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,294,312. This represents a 7.03 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 343,898 shares of company stock valued at $2,753,094 in the last quarter. Insiders own 4.30% of the company's stock.

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.