StockNews.com Upgrades Akebia Therapeutics (NASDAQ:AKBA) to “Hold”

Akebia Therapeutics (NASDAQ:AKBA) was upgraded by stock analysts at StockNews.com from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note issued to investors on Friday.

Separately, HC Wainwright reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $7.50 target price on shares of Akebia Therapeutics in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd.

Akebia Therapeutics Trading Up 1.6 %

NASDAQ:AKBA opened at $1.85 on Friday. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $1.75 and its 200-day moving average is $1.43. Akebia Therapeutics has a 1-year low of $0.80 and a 1-year high of $2.48. The stock has a market cap of $403.63 million, a P/E ratio of -8.04 and a beta of 0.70.

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

Institutional Trading of Akebia Therapeutics

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. SG Americas Securities LLC bought a new stake in shares of Akebia Therapeutics in the 2nd quarter valued at $34,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised 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 worth $617,000 after buying an additional 585,789 shares during the last quarter. Rhumbline Advisers lifted its stake in shares of Akebia Therapeutics by 4,915.4% in the second quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 247,060 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $252,000 after buying an additional 242,134 shares in the last quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC boosted its stake in Akebia Therapeutics by 7.2% during the 2nd quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 3,914,800 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $3,993,000 after purchasing an additional 262,700 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV lifted its stake in Akebia Therapeutics by 40.7% during the 2nd quarter. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV now owns 31,221 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $32,000 after acquiring an additional 9,037 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.