Aurinia Pharmaceuticals Inc. (NASDAQ:AUPH) Short Interest Down 9.9% in April

Aurinia Pharmaceuticals Inc. (NASDAQ:AUPH) (TSE:AUP) was the recipient of a significant decline in short interest during the month of April. As of April 30th, there was short interest totalling 10,260,000 shares, a decline of 9.9% from the April 15th total of 11,390,000 shares. Currently, 8.1% of the shares of the stock are short sold. Based on an average daily volume of 2,070,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 5.0 days.

Aurinia Pharmaceuticals Trading Down 0.2 %

NASDAQ AUPH traded down $0.01 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $5.76. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 2,332,456 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,048,957. Aurinia Pharmaceuticals has a 52-week low of $4.71 and a 52-week high of $12.43. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $5.10 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $6.96. The firm has a market capitalization of $821.72 million, a P/E ratio of -13.28 and a beta of 1.36. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19, a current ratio of 5.60 and a quick ratio of 5.05.

Aurinia Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:AUPH) (TSE:AUP) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, February 15th. The biotechnology company reported ($0.19) EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.16) by ($0.03). The firm had revenue of $45.10 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $45.00 million. Aurinia Pharmaceuticals had a negative return on equity of 15.06% and a negative net margin of 32.69%. Aurinia Pharmaceuticals’s revenue was up 58.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted ($0.18) EPS. Research analysts expect that Aurinia Pharmaceuticals will post 0.15 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Trading of Aurinia Pharmaceuticals

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in AUPH. Armistice Capital LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Aurinia Pharmaceuticals by 57.7% in the 4th quarter. Armistice Capital LLC now owns 9,536,000 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $85,729,000 after buying an additional 3,488,000 shares during the period. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. boosted its stake in Aurinia Pharmaceuticals by 39.1% in the fourth quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 2,048,456 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $18,416,000 after acquiring an additional 576,120 shares during the period. Campbell & CO Investment Adviser LLC bought a new position in shares of Aurinia Pharmaceuticals during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $2,089,000. GSA Capital Partners LLP boosted its position in Aurinia Pharmaceuticals by 196.1% during the 1st quarter. GSA Capital Partners LLP now owns 349,204 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $1,750,000 after purchasing an additional 231,260 shares during the period. Finally, Sunbelt Securities Inc. grew its stake in shares of Aurinia Pharmaceuticals by 154.3% in the third quarter. Sunbelt Securities Inc. now owns 196,090 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $1,524,000 after purchasing an additional 118,990 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 36.83% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

AUPH has been the subject of several research reports. StockNews.com raised Aurinia Pharmaceuticals from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, May 3rd. HC Wainwright reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $13.00 target price on shares of Aurinia Pharmaceuticals in a report on Friday, March 1st. Jefferies Financial Group dropped their price objective on Aurinia Pharmaceuticals from $9.50 to $9.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, February 16th. Cantor Fitzgerald lowered their price target on shares of Aurinia Pharmaceuticals from $12.00 to $10.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, February 23rd. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada decreased their target price on shares of Aurinia Pharmaceuticals from $13.00 to $8.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, February 16th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $10.00.

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.