Aurinia Pharmaceuticals Inc (NASDAQ:AUPH) Short Interest Down 15.7% in April

Aurinia Pharmaceuticals Inc (NASDAQ:AUPH) (TSE:AUP) was the target of a large decline in short interest in the month of April. As of April 15th, there was short interest totaling 9,112,230 shares, a decline of 15.7% from the March 31st total of 10,809,496 shares. Approximately 7.8% of the company’s shares are short sold. Based on an average daily volume of 1,079,907 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 8.4 days.

Aurinia Pharmaceuticals Price Performance

Shares of Aurinia Pharmaceuticals stock opened at $15.35 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09, a current ratio of 5.25 and a quick ratio of 4.76. Aurinia Pharmaceuticals has a one year low of $7.28 and a one year high of $16.88. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.99 billion, a P/E ratio of 7.38 and a beta of 1.44. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $15.05 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $14.85.

Aurinia Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:AUPH) (TSE:AUP) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, February 26th. The biotechnology company reported $1.53 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.21 by $1.32. The company had revenue of $77.11 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $74.70 million. Aurinia Pharmaceuticals had a return on equity of 27.47% and a net margin of 101.46%. Analysts forecast that Aurinia Pharmaceuticals will post 0.81 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Kevin Tang purchased 516,439 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 27th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $13.99 per share, with a total value of $7,224,981.61. Following the purchase, the director directly owned 11,845,939 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $165,724,686.61. This trade represents a 4.56% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 12.20% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Aurinia Pharmaceuticals

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its holdings in shares of Aurinia Pharmaceuticals by 21.7% during the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 533,290 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $5,893,000 after acquiring an additional 94,941 shares in the last quarter. Tudor Investment Corp ET AL bought a new position in shares of Aurinia Pharmaceuticals during the third quarter valued at approximately $729,000. Ritholtz Wealth Management bought a new position in shares of Aurinia Pharmaceuticals during the third quarter valued at approximately $934,000. Navellier & Associates Inc. bought a new position in shares of Aurinia Pharmaceuticals during the third quarter valued at approximately $926,000. Finally, SG Americas Securities LLC raised its holdings in shares of Aurinia Pharmaceuticals by 69.6% during the fourth quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 136,224 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $2,173,000 after acquiring an additional 55,903 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 36.83% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Separately, Weiss Ratings raised Aurinia Pharmaceuticals from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research note on Friday. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $17.25.

About Aurinia Pharmaceuticals

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.