Akebia Therapeutics (NASDAQ:AKBA) Trading Up 11.2% – Here’s What Happened

Akebia Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:AKBA)’s stock price shot up 11.2% during trading on Wednesday . The company traded as high as $2.74 and last traded at $2.84. 1,677,125 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 44% from the average session volume of 2,995,445 shares. The stock had previously closed at $2.55.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

AKBA has been the subject of several research analyst reports. HC Wainwright restated a “buy” rating and set a $7.50 price target on shares of Akebia Therapeutics in a report on Friday, March 14th. Piper Sandler raised their target price on shares of Akebia Therapeutics from $4.00 to $6.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating 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 research note on Monday.

Akebia Therapeutics Stock Down 28.2 %

The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $2.07 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $1.81. The company has a market capitalization of $445.09 million, a P/E ratio of -8.87 and a beta of 0.94.

Akebia Therapeutics (NASDAQ:AKBA) last announced its earnings results 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 analysts’ expectations of $37.36 million. As a group, research analysts expect that Akebia Therapeutics, Inc. will post -0.3 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CAO Richard C. Malabre sold 30,202 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $2.10, for a total value of $63,424.20. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 280,248 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $588,520.80. This represents a 9.73 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Steven Keith Burke sold 50,506 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 3rd. The stock was 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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,714,091.40. The trade was a 5.83 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 280,579 shares of company stock valued at $589,216 over the last three months. 4.10% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Akebia Therapeutics

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in Akebia Therapeutics by 8.1% in the 4th 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 grew its holdings 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 purchasing an additional 683,287 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP purchased a new position in Akebia Therapeutics in the 3rd quarter worth about $534,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its holdings in Akebia Therapeutics by 363.0% during the 4th quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 456,294 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $867,000 after buying an additional 357,748 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bank of America Corp DE boosted its position in Akebia Therapeutics by 117.9% in the 4th quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 543,916 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $1,033,000 after buying an additional 294,343 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.