Akebia Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:AKBA) Shares Sold by Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd.

Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. cut its stake in Akebia Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:AKBA) by 1.9% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 1,026,896 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock after selling 19,795 shares during the period. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd.’s holdings in Akebia Therapeutics were worth $1,951,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Akebia Therapeutics in the 4th quarter worth about $85,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its position in Akebia Therapeutics by 3.2% in the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 586,710 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $1,115,000 after purchasing an additional 18,043 shares during the last quarter. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Akebia Therapeutics in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its holdings in shares of Akebia Therapeutics by 5.9% during the fourth quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 497,547 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $945,000 after buying an additional 27,839 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Rhumbline Advisers boosted its position in shares of Akebia Therapeutics by 9.3% during the fourth quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 265,389 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $504,000 after buying an additional 22,513 shares during the period. 33.92% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts recently commented on AKBA shares. Piper Sandler raised their target price on Akebia Therapeutics from $4.00 to $6.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, March 14th. StockNews.com raised Akebia Therapeutics from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday. Finally, HC Wainwright reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $7.50 price objective on shares of Akebia Therapeutics in a report on Friday, March 14th.

Akebia Therapeutics Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:AKBA opened at $2.55 on Wednesday. The stock has a market cap of $556.36 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -11.09 and a beta of 0.94. Akebia Therapeutics, Inc. has a 12 month low of $0.80 and a 12 month high of $2.58. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $2.04 and its 200 day moving average price is $1.80.

Akebia Therapeutics (NASDAQ:AKBA) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, March 13th. The biopharmaceutical company reported ($0.10) EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.05) by ($0.05). The firm had revenue of $46.50 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $37.36 million. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Akebia Therapeutics, Inc. will post -0.3 EPS for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Akebia Therapeutics news, CAO Richard C. Malabre sold 30,202 shares of Akebia Therapeutics stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $2.10, for a total value of $63,424.20. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 280,248 shares in the company, valued at approximately $588,520.80. The trade was a 9.73 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO John P. Butler sold 144,250 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, February 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $2.10, for a total value of $302,925.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 2,604,330 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,469,093. This trade represents a 5.25 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 280,579 shares of company stock worth $589,216. 4.10% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.