Strs Ohio Sells 12,300 Shares of Aurinia Pharmaceuticals Inc. (NASDAQ:AUPH)

Strs Ohio lessened its stake in shares of Aurinia Pharmaceuticals Inc. (NASDAQ:AUPH) (TSE:AUP) by 16.8% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 61,100 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock after selling 12,300 shares during the quarter. Strs Ohio’s holdings in Aurinia Pharmaceuticals were worth $549,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of AUPH. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. boosted its position in shares of Aurinia Pharmaceuticals by 95.9% in the 3rd quarter. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 3,673 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 1,798 shares in the last quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale acquired a new stake in shares of Aurinia Pharmaceuticals in the 3rd quarter worth $65,000. Raymond James & Associates boosted its position in shares of Aurinia Pharmaceuticals by 37.8% in the 3rd quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 16,951 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $132,000 after purchasing an additional 4,651 shares in the last quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Aurinia Pharmaceuticals in the 3rd quarter worth $165,000. Finally, Banque Cantonale Vaudoise boosted its position in shares of Aurinia Pharmaceuticals by 31.8% in the 3rd quarter. Banque Cantonale Vaudoise now owns 21,974 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $171,000 after purchasing an additional 5,300 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 36.83% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

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

Aurinia Pharmaceuticals Stock Performance

Shares of AUPH stock opened at $4.91 on Friday. The business has a fifty day moving average of $5.27 and a 200 day moving average of $7.19. The firm has a market capitalization of $710.08 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -9.09 and a beta of 1.36. Aurinia Pharmaceuticals Inc. has a 1 year low of $4.71 and a 1 year high of $12.43. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20, a current ratio of 5.50 and a quick ratio of 4.99.

Aurinia Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:AUPH) (TSE:AUP) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 15th. The biotechnology company reported ($0.19) earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.16) by ($0.03). The company had revenue of $45.10 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $45.00 million. Aurinia Pharmaceuticals had a negative net margin of 44.45% and a negative return on equity of 20.10%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 58.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted ($0.18) EPS. As a group, research analysts expect that Aurinia Pharmaceuticals Inc. will post -0.06 earnings per share for the current 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.