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 report released on Monday morning.

Several other research analysts also recently weighed in on AKBA. Piper Sandler lifted their target price on shares of Akebia Therapeutics from $4.00 to $6.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, March 14th. HC Wainwright reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $7.50 target price on shares of Akebia Therapeutics in a research report on Friday, March 14th.

Akebia Therapeutics Price Performance

Shares of AKBA opened at $2.84 on Monday. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $2.07 and its 200-day moving average is $1.81. The stock has a market capitalization of $619.63 million, a P/E ratio of -12.35 and a beta of 0.94. Akebia Therapeutics has a 12-month low of $0.80 and a 12-month high of $2.89.

Akebia Therapeutics (NASDAQ:AKBA) last released its earnings results on Thursday, March 13th. The biopharmaceutical company reported ($0.10) earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.05) by ($0.05). The firm had revenue of $46.50 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $37.36 million. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Akebia Therapeutics will post -0.3 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, SVP Steven Keith Burke sold 50,506 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 816,234 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,714,091.40. This trade represents a 5.83 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO John P. Butler sold 144,250 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 transaction of $302,925.00. Following the completion of 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 ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 280,579 shares of company stock worth $589,216. 4.10% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Akebia Therapeutics

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in AKBA. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in Akebia Therapeutics by 8.1% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 10,884,200 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $20,680,000 after acquiring an additional 813,902 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp lifted its stake in shares of 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 buying an additional 683,287 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP acquired a new stake in shares of Akebia Therapeutics in the third quarter worth $534,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its stake in shares of Akebia Therapeutics by 363.0% in the fourth quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 456,294 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $867,000 after buying an additional 357,748 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bank of America Corp DE lifted its stake in shares of Akebia Therapeutics by 117.9% in the fourth quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 543,916 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $1,033,000 after buying an additional 294,343 shares during the last quarter. 33.92% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.