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

Aurinia Pharmaceuticals Inc. (NASDAQ:AUPH) (TSE:AUP) saw 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. Currently, 9.6% of the company’s shares are short sold. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 2,340,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 5.2 days.

Aurinia Pharmaceuticals Stock Performance

Shares of AUPH stock traded down $0.06 during trading on Monday, hitting $5.04. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 1,338,541 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,253,355. 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 company has a market cap of $728.88 million, a PE ratio of -9.33 and a beta of 1.36. The business has a fifty day moving average of $5.73 and a 200-day moving average of $7.34. Aurinia Pharmaceuticals has a 52 week low of $4.85 and a 52 week high of $12.43.

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms recently commented on AUPH. Royal Bank of Canada cut 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. HC Wainwright restated a “buy” rating and issued a $13.00 price target on shares of Aurinia Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Friday, March 1st. Cantor Fitzgerald cut their target price on Aurinia Pharmaceuticals from $12.00 to $10.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, February 23rd. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group reduced their price target on shares of Aurinia Pharmaceuticals from $9.50 to $9.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Friday, February 16th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $10.00.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Aurinia Pharmaceuticals

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Ameritas Investment Partners Inc. raised its position in Aurinia Pharmaceuticals by 11.2% in the second quarter. Ameritas Investment Partners Inc. now owns 11,183 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $108,000 after acquiring an additional 1,122 shares during the period. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Aurinia Pharmaceuticals by 54.2% in the 1st quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 3,250 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $40,000 after purchasing an additional 1,142 shares during the period. Great West Life Assurance Co. Can lifted its stake in Aurinia Pharmaceuticals by 22.3% in the first quarter. Great West Life Assurance Co. Can now owns 6,533 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $86,000 after purchasing an additional 1,192 shares during the last quarter. State of Wisconsin Investment Board grew its holdings in Aurinia Pharmaceuticals by 1.4% during the second quarter. State of Wisconsin Investment Board now owns 112,972 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $1,094,000 after purchasing an additional 1,533 shares during the period. Finally, Rhumbline Advisers increased its position in Aurinia Pharmaceuticals by 0.9% in the third quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 180,680 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $1,404,000 after buying an additional 1,554 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 36.83% of the company’s stock.

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.