Aurinia Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:AUPH) Shares Gap Up to $6.58

Aurinia Pharmaceuticals Inc. (NASDAQ:AUPH) (TSE:AUP)’s stock price gapped up prior to trading on Friday . The stock had previously closed at $6.58, but opened at $6.85. Aurinia Pharmaceuticals shares last traded at $6.76, with a volume of 187,512 shares changing hands.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have commented on the stock. HC Wainwright restated a “buy” rating and set a $13.00 price objective on shares of Aurinia Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Friday, September 6th. Cantor Fitzgerald restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $10.00 price objective on shares of Aurinia Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Monday, September 9th. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $10.00.

Aurinia Pharmaceuticals Stock Performance

The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $6.06 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $5.55. The company has a current ratio of 5.33, a quick ratio of 4.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.01 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -16.35 and a beta of 1.44.

Aurinia Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:AUPH) (TSE:AUP) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The biotechnology company reported $0.01 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $0.01. The company had revenue of $57.10 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $54.25 million. Aurinia Pharmaceuticals had a negative net margin of 24.31% and a negative return on equity of 11.84%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 37.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted ($0.08) earnings per share. On average, analysts forecast that Aurinia Pharmaceuticals Inc. will post 0.13 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, insider Scott Michael Habig sold 18,249 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $5.31, for a total value of $96,902.19. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 456,338 shares in the company, valued at $2,423,154.78. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. 4.30% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Aurinia Pharmaceuticals

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of AUPH. Tidemark LLC purchased a new position in shares of Aurinia Pharmaceuticals during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $39,000. Eagle Asset Management Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Aurinia Pharmaceuticals during the fourth quarter worth $92,000. Campbell & CO Investment Adviser LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Aurinia Pharmaceuticals in the fourth quarter valued at $2,089,000. Armistice Capital LLC increased its stake in Aurinia Pharmaceuticals by 57.7% in the fourth quarter. Armistice Capital LLC now owns 9,536,000 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $85,729,000 after purchasing an additional 3,488,000 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Privium Fund Management UK Ltd purchased a new position in Aurinia Pharmaceuticals during the fourth quarter worth about $593,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 36.83% 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.