Akebia Therapeutics (NASDAQ:AKBA) Upgraded by StockNews.com to Hold Rating

StockNews.com upgraded shares of Akebia Therapeutics (NASDAQ:AKBA) from a sell rating to a hold rating in a research note released on Thursday morning.

AKBA has been the topic of several other reports. Jefferies Financial Group assumed coverage on shares of Akebia Therapeutics in a research note on Tuesday, April 1st. They set a “buy” rating and a $6.00 price target on the stock. 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 note on Friday, March 14th. Finally, HC Wainwright reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $7.50 price target on shares of Akebia Therapeutics in a report on Friday, April 4th.

Akebia Therapeutics Price Performance

Shares of Akebia Therapeutics stock opened at $1.55 on Thursday. Akebia Therapeutics has a 1 year low of $0.80 and a 1 year high of $2.89. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $1.97 and a 200 day moving average price of $1.86. The company has a market capitalization of $366.16 million, a P/E ratio of -6.74 and a beta of 0.87.

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 firm had revenue of $46.50 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $37.36 million. As a group, research analysts expect that Akebia Therapeutics will post -0.3 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Akebia Therapeutics

In other news, CAO Richard C. Malabre sold 30,202 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $2.10, for a total transaction of $63,424.20. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 280,248 shares in the company, valued at $588,520.80. This represents a 9.73 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, SVP Steven Keith Burke sold 50,506 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, February 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $2.10, for a total value of $106,062.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 816,234 shares in the company, valued at $1,714,091.40. This trade represents a 5.83 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. 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 three months. Company insiders own 4.10% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Akebia Therapeutics

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of AKBA. Wealth Effects LLC increased its position in shares of Akebia Therapeutics by 18.5% in the fourth quarter. Wealth Effects LLC now owns 32,000 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $61,000 after acquiring an additional 5,000 shares in the last quarter. TD Waterhouse Canada Inc. increased its holdings in Akebia Therapeutics by 8.8% in the 4th quarter. TD Waterhouse Canada Inc. now owns 98,618 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $187,000 after purchasing an additional 8,000 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its position in Akebia Therapeutics by 10.9% in the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 98,546 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $130,000 after purchasing an additional 9,662 shares during the period. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lifted its stake in shares of Akebia Therapeutics by 8.9% during the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 137,905 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $263,000 after purchasing an additional 11,257 shares in the last quarter. Finally, MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. lifted its stake in shares of Akebia Therapeutics by 10.7% during the fourth quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 126,380 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $240,000 after purchasing an additional 12,232 shares in the last quarter. 33.92% of the stock is 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.