Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund Invests $4.08 Million in Aurinia Pharmaceuticals Inc $AUPH

Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund bought a new position in shares of Aurinia Pharmaceuticals Inc (NASDAQ:AUPH) (TSE:AUP) during the 1st quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor bought 275,300 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,080,000.

Other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Tudor Investment Corp ET AL purchased a new position in shares of Aurinia Pharmaceuticals in the third quarter valued at about $729,000. Ritholtz Wealth Management raised its stake in shares of Aurinia Pharmaceuticals by 206.2% during the fourth quarter. Ritholtz Wealth Management now owns 258,816 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $4,128,000 after acquiring an additional 174,301 shares during the last quarter. Cvfg LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Aurinia Pharmaceuticals during the first quarter worth about $1,000,000. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Aurinia Pharmaceuticals during the fourth quarter worth about $1,970,000. Finally, SG Americas Securities LLC grew its stake in shares of Aurinia Pharmaceuticals by 69.6% in the fourth quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 136,224 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $2,173,000 after purchasing an additional 55,903 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 36.83% of the company’s stock.

Aurinia Pharmaceuticals Stock Performance

NASDAQ:AUPH opened at $15.00 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 5.01, a current ratio of 5.55 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $15.95 and its 200 day simple moving average is $15.35. The stock has a market cap of $1.93 billion, a P/E ratio of 6.91 and a beta of 1.41. Aurinia Pharmaceuticals Inc has a twelve month low of $8.85 and a twelve month high of $19.25.

Aurinia Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:AUPH) (TSE:AUP) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 7th. The biotechnology company reported $0.25 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.18 by $0.07. The business had revenue of $77.71 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $76.98 million. Aurinia Pharmaceuticals had a net margin of 99.97% and a return on equity of 26.62%. As a group, research analysts predict that Aurinia Pharmaceuticals Inc will post 0.81 EPS for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Aurinia Pharmaceuticals

In related news, CEO Kevin Tang acquired 343,620 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, June 1st. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $15.28 per share, for a total transaction of $5,250,513.60. Following the completion of the acquisition, the chief executive officer directly owned 12,838,101 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $196,166,183.28. This represents a 2.75% increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Insiders have bought 814,606 shares of company stock valued at $12,455,129 over the last ninety days. 10.40% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on AUPH. Zacks Research downgraded Aurinia Pharmaceuticals from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 21st. Weiss Ratings cut Aurinia Pharmaceuticals from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a report on Friday, May 15th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $17.33.

Aurinia Pharmaceuticals Profile

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.