Aurinia Pharmaceuticals Inc. (NASDAQ:AUPH) Sees Large Decrease in Short Interest

Aurinia Pharmaceuticals Inc. (NASDAQ:AUPH) (TSE:AUP) was the target of a significant drop in short interest during the month of July. As of July 15th, there was short interest totalling 8,700,000 shares, a drop of 15.7% from the June 30th total of 10,320,000 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 1,280,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 6.8 days.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Separately, StockNews.com raised shares of Aurinia Pharmaceuticals from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, May 3rd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $10.00.

Aurinia Pharmaceuticals Stock Performance

NASDAQ AUPH traded down $0.02 on Tuesday, reaching $5.66. 814,658 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,763,006. The firm has a market cap of $809.49 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -13.19 and a beta of 1.44. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $5.50 and a 200-day moving average price of $5.80. Aurinia Pharmaceuticals has a fifty-two week low of $4.71 and a fifty-two week high of $12.38. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19, a quick ratio of 5.05 and a current ratio of 5.60.

Aurinia Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:AUPH) (TSE:AUP) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, May 2nd. The biotechnology company reported ($0.03) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.17) by $0.14. The company had revenue of $50.30 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $46.30 million. Aurinia Pharmaceuticals had a negative net margin of 32.69% and a negative return on equity of 15.06%. Equities research analysts predict that Aurinia Pharmaceuticals will post 0.15 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in AUPH. Vermillion & White Wealth Management Group LLC purchased a new position in Aurinia Pharmaceuticals in the fourth quarter valued at $30,000. Tidemark LLC purchased a new position in Aurinia Pharmaceuticals in the fourth quarter valued at $39,000. Virtu Financial LLC purchased a new position in Aurinia Pharmaceuticals in the first quarter valued at $78,000. Eagle Asset Management Inc. purchased a new position in Aurinia Pharmaceuticals in the fourth quarter valued at $92,000. Finally, China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. increased its holdings in Aurinia Pharmaceuticals by 67.4% in the first quarter. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 27,802 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $139,000 after buying an additional 11,189 shares in the last quarter. 36.83% of the stock is currently 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.