Akebia Therapeutics (NASDAQ:AKBA) Rating Increased to Hold at StockNews.com

StockNews.com upgraded shares of Akebia Therapeutics (NASDAQ:AKBA) from a sell rating to a hold rating in a research note released on Thursday.

Several other research firms also recently weighed in on AKBA. HC Wainwright reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $7.50 target price on shares of Akebia Therapeutics in a report on Friday, April 4th. Piper Sandler increased their price objective on Akebia Therapeutics from $4.00 to $6.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, March 14th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group assumed coverage on shares of Akebia Therapeutics in a research report on Tuesday, April 1st. They set a “buy” rating and a $6.00 target price on the stock.

Akebia Therapeutics Trading Up 6.5 %

AKBA stock opened at $1.65 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $389.78 million, a P/E ratio of -7.17 and a beta of 0.87. Akebia Therapeutics has a twelve month low of $0.80 and a twelve month high of $2.89. The company’s 50 day moving average is $1.96 and its two-hundred day moving average is $1.87.

Akebia Therapeutics (NASDAQ:AKBA) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, March 13th. The biopharmaceutical company reported ($0.10) EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.05) by ($0.05). The company had revenue of $46.50 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $37.36 million. On average, equities research analysts predict that Akebia Therapeutics will post -0.3 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Akebia Therapeutics news, SVP Steven Keith Burke sold 50,506 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $2.10, for a total transaction of $106,062.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 816,234 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,714,091.40. This represents a 5.83 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CAO Richard C. Malabre sold 30,202 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $2.10, for a total transaction of $63,424.20. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 280,248 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $588,520.80. This trade represents a 9.73 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 280,579 shares of company stock valued at $589,216 over the last quarter. 4.10% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Akebia Therapeutics

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company acquired a new stake in shares of Akebia Therapeutics in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $104,000. FMR LLC raised its position in Akebia Therapeutics by 26.0% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 682,038 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $900,000 after acquiring an additional 140,529 shares in the last quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets raised its position in Akebia Therapeutics by 205.8% in the third quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 46,270 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $61,000 after acquiring an additional 31,137 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp lifted its holdings in Akebia Therapeutics by 24.9% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 3,430,527 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $4,528,000 after acquiring an additional 683,287 shares during the period. Finally, Wellington Management Group LLP purchased a new stake in shares of Akebia Therapeutics during the 3rd quarter worth $534,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 33.92% of the company’s stock.

Akebia Therapeutics Company Profile

Akebia Therapeutics, Inc, a biopharmaceutical company, focuses on the development and commercialization of therapeutics for patients with kidney diseases. The company’s lead product investigational product candidate is Vafseo (vadadustat), an oral hypoxia-inducible factor prolyl hydroxylase, which is in Phase III development for the treatment of anemia due to chronic kidney disease (CKD) in dialysis-dependent and non-dialysis dependent patients.