Aurinia Pharmaceuticals Inc. (NASDAQ:AUPH) Sees Large Increase in Short Interest

Aurinia Pharmaceuticals Inc. (NASDAQ:AUPH) (TSE:AUP) was the target of a significant growth in short interest during the month of June. As of June 15th, there was short interest totalling 10,180,000 shares, a growth of 10.5% from the May 31st total of 9,210,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 1,280,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 8.0 days.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Aurinia Pharmaceuticals

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of AUPH. Cetera Advisors LLC increased its stake in Aurinia Pharmaceuticals by 18.9% during the 1st quarter. Cetera Advisors LLC now owns 60,139 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $301,000 after purchasing an additional 9,547 shares in the last quarter. Virtu Financial LLC acquired a new position in shares of Aurinia Pharmaceuticals during the first quarter valued at about $78,000. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD raised its holdings in shares of Aurinia Pharmaceuticals by 15.0% in the 1st quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 38,952 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $196,000 after acquiring an additional 5,079 shares during the last quarter. Patten & Patten Inc. TN acquired a new stake in shares of Aurinia Pharmaceuticals in the 1st quarter worth about $386,000. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in Aurinia Pharmaceuticals by 1.4% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,531,617 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $7,673,000 after acquiring an additional 21,119 shares in the last quarter. 36.83% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Aurinia Pharmaceuticals Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ AUPH opened at $5.71 on Monday. The firm has a market capitalization of $814.59 million, a P/E ratio of -13.28 and a beta of 1.44. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $5.33 and its 200-day moving average price is $6.30. The company has a current ratio of 5.60, a quick ratio of 5.05 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19. Aurinia Pharmaceuticals has a 1-year low of $4.71 and a 1-year high of $12.43.

Aurinia Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:AUPH) (TSE:AUP) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 2nd. The biotechnology company reported ($0.03) earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.17) by $0.14. Aurinia Pharmaceuticals had a negative return on equity of 15.06% and a negative net margin of 32.69%. The business had revenue of $50.30 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $46.30 million. Equities research analysts anticipate that Aurinia Pharmaceuticals will post 0.15 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Separately, StockNews.com raised Aurinia Pharmaceuticals from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, May 3rd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Aurinia Pharmaceuticals has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $10.00.

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.