Sierra Summit Advisors LLC Purchases Shares of 60,813 Aurinia Pharmaceuticals Inc $AUPH

Sierra Summit Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Aurinia Pharmaceuticals Inc (NASDAQ:AUPH) (TSE:AUP) during the first quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor acquired 60,813 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock, valued at approximately $901,000.

Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of AUPH. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership boosted its holdings in shares of Aurinia Pharmaceuticals by 0.4% in the 4th quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 3,387,194 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $54,026,000 after buying an additional 13,173 shares in the last quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC raised its stake in Aurinia Pharmaceuticals by 9.7% during the 4th quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 1,590,135 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $25,363,000 after acquiring an additional 140,535 shares in the last quarter. Marshall Wace LLP raised its stake in Aurinia Pharmaceuticals by 6.2% during the 4th quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 1,574,957 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $25,121,000 after acquiring an additional 91,825 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in Aurinia Pharmaceuticals by 1.5% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,507,869 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $24,047,000 after acquiring an additional 22,169 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Two Sigma Investments LP lifted its position in Aurinia Pharmaceuticals by 728.6% in the third quarter. Two Sigma Investments LP now owns 1,341,067 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $14,819,000 after acquiring an additional 1,179,219 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 36.83% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Aurinia Pharmaceuticals

In other Aurinia Pharmaceuticals news, CEO Kevin Tang bought 206,005 shares of Aurinia Pharmaceuticals stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 2nd. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $15.28 per share, with a total value of $3,147,756.40. Following the completion of the acquisition, the chief executive officer owned 13,044,106 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $199,313,939.68. This represents a 1.60% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Insiders have bought 814,606 shares of company stock valued at $12,455,129 over the last three months. 12.20% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Aurinia Pharmaceuticals Stock Performance

Shares of AUPH opened at $15.61 on Friday. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $16.00 and its 200-day simple moving average is $15.37. The firm has a market cap of $2.01 billion, a PE ratio of 7.19 and a beta of 1.41. Aurinia Pharmaceuticals Inc has a 12-month low of $7.36 and a 12-month high of $19.25. The company has a current ratio of 5.55, a quick ratio of 5.01 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08.

Aurinia Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:AUPH) (TSE:AUP) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 7th. The biotechnology company reported $0.25 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.18 by $0.07. Aurinia Pharmaceuticals had a net margin of 99.97% and a return on equity of 26.62%. The firm had revenue of $77.71 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $76.98 million. As a group, equities analysts predict that Aurinia Pharmaceuticals Inc will post 0.82 EPS for the current year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

AUPH has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Weiss Ratings downgraded shares of Aurinia Pharmaceuticals from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research note on Friday, May 15th. Zacks Research raised Aurinia Pharmaceuticals from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have assigned a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $17.25.

About Aurinia Pharmaceuticals

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.