Aurinia Pharmaceuticals Inc. (NASDAQ:AUPH) Short Interest Update

Aurinia Pharmaceuticals Inc. (NASDAQ:AUPH) (TSE:AUP) was the target of a significant growth in short interest in the month of March. As of March 31st, there was short interest totalling 12,240,000 shares, a growth of 14.9% from the March 15th total of 10,650,000 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 2,340,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 5.2 days. Approximately 9.6% of the company’s shares are short sold.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts recently issued reports on the company. HC Wainwright reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $13.00 price target on shares of Aurinia Pharmaceuticals in a report on Friday, March 1st. Royal Bank of Canada lowered their price target on Aurinia Pharmaceuticals from $13.00 to $8.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, February 16th. Jefferies Financial Group lowered their target price on Aurinia Pharmaceuticals from $9.50 to $9.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Friday, February 16th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald lowered their target price on Aurinia Pharmaceuticals from $12.00 to $10.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, February 23rd. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $10.00.

Aurinia Pharmaceuticals Stock Up 0.4 %

Shares of AUPH stock traded up $0.02 during trading hours on Tuesday, reaching $5.06. 465,381 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,228,529. The company has a current ratio of 5.50, a quick ratio of 4.99 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $5.73 and its 200-day moving average is $7.34. Aurinia Pharmaceuticals has a fifty-two week low of $4.85 and a fifty-two week high of $12.43. The company has a market cap of $731.78 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -9.44 and a beta of 1.36.

Aurinia Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:AUPH) (TSE:AUP) last released its earnings results on Thursday, February 15th. The biotechnology company reported ($0.19) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.16) by ($0.03). Aurinia Pharmaceuticals had a negative net margin of 44.45% and a negative return on equity of 20.10%. The firm had revenue of $45.10 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $45.00 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned ($0.18) earnings per share. Aurinia Pharmaceuticals’s revenue was up 58.8% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts predict that Aurinia Pharmaceuticals will post -0.06 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Aurinia Pharmaceuticals

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale acquired a new position in shares of Aurinia Pharmaceuticals in the 3rd quarter valued at $65,000. Barclays PLC boosted its holdings in Aurinia Pharmaceuticals by 154.8% in the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 127,728 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $992,000 after purchasing an additional 77,594 shares during the last quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in Aurinia Pharmaceuticals by 138.0% in the third quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 55,428 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $430,000 after purchasing an additional 32,137 shares during the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB boosted its holdings in Aurinia Pharmaceuticals by 1.0% in the third quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 214,500 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $1,687,000 after purchasing an additional 2,100 shares during the last quarter. Finally, SG Americas Securities LLC purchased a new stake in Aurinia Pharmaceuticals in the third quarter valued at $165,000. 36.83% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.