Short Interest in Aurinia Pharmaceuticals Inc. (NASDAQ:AUPH) Decreases By 13.0%

Aurinia Pharmaceuticals Inc. (NASDAQ:AUPH) (TSE:AUP) saw a significant drop in short interest in September. As of September 15th, there was short interest totalling 7,580,000 shares, a drop of 13.0% from the August 31st total of 8,710,000 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 1,420,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 5.3 days.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have weighed in on the stock. Cantor Fitzgerald restated an “overweight” rating and set a $10.00 target price on shares of Aurinia Pharmaceuticals in a report on Monday, September 16th. 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. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $10.00.

Insider Buying and Selling at Aurinia Pharmaceuticals

In related news, insider Scott Michael Habig sold 18,249 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the insider now owns 456,338 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,423,154.78. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 4.30% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Aurinia Pharmaceuticals

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Armistice Capital LLC increased its holdings in shares of Aurinia Pharmaceuticals by 57.7% during the 4th quarter. Armistice Capital LLC now owns 9,536,000 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $85,729,000 after buying an additional 3,488,000 shares during the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. increased its stake in Aurinia Pharmaceuticals by 39.1% during the fourth quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 2,048,456 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $18,416,000 after acquiring an additional 576,120 shares during the last quarter. Stonepine Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in Aurinia Pharmaceuticals during the second quarter worth about $1,713,000. Campbell & CO Investment Adviser LLC purchased a new position in Aurinia Pharmaceuticals in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $2,089,000. Finally, GSA Capital Partners LLP grew its stake in Aurinia Pharmaceuticals by 196.1% during the first quarter. GSA Capital Partners LLP now owns 349,204 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $1,750,000 after buying an additional 231,260 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 36.83% of the company’s stock.

Aurinia Pharmaceuticals Trading Up 1.7 %

Shares of NASDAQ AUPH traded up $0.12 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $7.28. 790,979 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,701,720. 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 company has a market capitalization of $1.04 billion, a P/E ratio of -16.93 and a beta of 1.44. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $6.36 and a 200-day moving average price of $5.66. Aurinia Pharmaceuticals has a 52-week low of $4.71 and a 52-week high of $10.05.

Aurinia Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:AUPH) (TSE:AUP) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The biotechnology company reported $0.01 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $0.01. Aurinia Pharmaceuticals had a negative return on equity of 11.84% and a negative net margin of 24.31%. The company had revenue of $57.10 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $54.25 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted ($0.08) EPS. Aurinia Pharmaceuticals’s revenue was up 37.6% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts expect that Aurinia Pharmaceuticals will post 0.13 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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.