Akebia Therapeutics (NASDAQ:AKBA) Reaches New 12-Month High – Here’s What Happened

Akebia Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:AKBA)’s share price reached a new 52-week high on Tuesday . The stock traded as high as $2.50 and last traded at $2.47, with a volume of 2161320 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $2.40.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

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

Akebia Therapeutics Trading Down 28.3 %

The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $2.07 and its 200 day moving average price is $1.81. The firm has a market cap of $444.00 million, a PE ratio of -8.85 and a beta of 0.94.

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

Insider Activity at Akebia Therapeutics

In related news, CEO John P. Butler sold 144,250 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $2.10, for a total value 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 approximately $5,469,093. The trade was a 5.25 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CAO Richard C. Malabre sold 30,202 shares of the business’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 value of $63,424.20. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 280,248 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $588,520.80. The trade was 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 worth $589,216 in the last ninety days. 4.10% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Barclays PLC grew its holdings in shares of Akebia Therapeutics by 276.1% during the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 273,085 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $360,000 after purchasing an additional 200,482 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP bought a new position in Akebia Therapeutics in the third quarter valued at approximately $534,000. BNP Paribas Financial Markets grew its stake 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 valued at $61,000 after purchasing an additional 31,137 shares in the last quarter. XTX Topco Ltd bought a new position in shares of Akebia Therapeutics during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $58,000. Finally, State Street Corp lifted its holdings in Akebia Therapeutics by 24.9% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 3,430,527 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $4,528,000 after purchasing an additional 683,287 shares during the last quarter. 33.92% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.