Aurinia Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:AUPH) Upgraded at StockNews.com

StockNews.com upgraded shares of Aurinia Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:AUPH) (TSE:AUP) from a buy rating to a strong-buy rating in a report issued on Thursday.

Aurinia Pharmaceuticals Stock Performance

Shares of AUPH stock opened at $8.29 on Thursday. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $8.09 and its 200-day moving average price is $8.04. The stock has a market cap of $1.14 billion, a PE ratio of -55.26 and a beta of 1.26. The company has a current ratio of 5.60, a quick ratio of 5.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.17. Aurinia Pharmaceuticals has a 12 month low of $4.71 and a 12 month high of $10.67.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO Peter Greenleaf sold 195,593 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction 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 directly owns 1,953,892 shares in the company, valued at $15,631,136. This trade 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 the SEC website. Also, insider Greg Keenan sold 8,305 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $8.23, for a total transaction of $68,350.15. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 153,484 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,263,173.32. This trade represents a 5.13 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 343,898 shares of company stock worth $2,753,094 in the last 90 days. Insiders own 4.30% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Aurinia Pharmaceuticals

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of AUPH. Tang Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Aurinia Pharmaceuticals by 16.6% in the fourth quarter. Tang Capital Management LLC now owns 8,429,500 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $75,697,000 after acquiring an additional 1,200,000 shares during the period. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership bought a new stake in shares of Aurinia Pharmaceuticals during the 4th quarter valued at about $9,662,000. Point72 Asset Management L.P. bought a new stake in Aurinia Pharmaceuticals during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $7,630,000. Lazard Asset Management LLC raised its position in Aurinia Pharmaceuticals by 341.9% in the fourth quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 596,389 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $5,355,000 after acquiring an additional 461,430 shares during the period. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its position in shares of Aurinia Pharmaceuticals by 84.4% during the 4th quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 927,298 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $8,327,000 after acquiring an additional 424,482 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 36.83% of the company’s stock.

Aurinia Pharmaceuticals Company 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.