Akebia Therapeutics (NASDAQ:AKBA) Earns Buy Rating from HC Wainwright

Akebia Therapeutics (NASDAQ:AKBA)‘s stock had its “buy” rating reissued by research analysts at HC Wainwright in a report issued on Tuesday,Benzinga reports. They currently have a $7.50 price objective on the biopharmaceutical company’s stock. HC Wainwright’s price target would indicate a potential upside of 286.60% from the stock’s current price.

Separately, StockNews.com raised shares of Akebia Therapeutics from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th.

Akebia Therapeutics Stock Performance

Shares of AKBA opened at $1.94 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $423.27 million, a P/E ratio of -8.43 and a beta of 0.72. The business has a 50-day moving average of $1.90 and a 200 day moving average of $1.56. Akebia Therapeutics has a fifty-two week low of $0.80 and a fifty-two week high of $2.48.

Akebia Therapeutics (NASDAQ:AKBA) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, November 7th. The biopharmaceutical company reported ($0.10) earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.04) by ($0.06). The business had revenue of $37.43 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $45.66 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted ($0.08) earnings per share. As a group, research analysts predict that Akebia Therapeutics will post -0.24 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Akebia Therapeutics

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Wellington Management Group LLP purchased a new stake in shares of Akebia Therapeutics during the 3rd quarter valued at about $534,000. BNP Paribas Financial Markets grew its position in Akebia Therapeutics by 205.8% during the third quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 46,270 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $61,000 after buying an additional 31,137 shares during the period. XTX Topco Ltd purchased a new stake in Akebia Therapeutics during the third quarter valued at approximately $58,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its holdings in Akebia Therapeutics by 3,122.2% during the second quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 604,551 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $617,000 after buying an additional 585,789 shares during the last quarter. Finally, State Street Corp raised its position 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 worth $4,528,000 after acquiring an additional 683,287 shares during the period. 33.92% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

About Akebia Therapeutics

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.