Akebia Therapeutics (NASDAQ:AKBA) Cut to Sell at StockNews.com

Akebia Therapeutics (NASDAQ:AKBA) was downgraded by investment analysts at StockNews.com from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note issued on Monday.

Separately, HC Wainwright reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $7.50 price objective on shares of Akebia Therapeutics in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd.

Akebia Therapeutics Trading Down 2.0 %

Shares of NASDAQ:AKBA opened at $1.95 on Monday. The company has a market cap of $410.07 million, a PE ratio of -8.43 and a beta of 0.74. Akebia Therapeutics has a 12-month low of $0.80 and a 12-month high of $2.48. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $1.47 and a 200 day moving average of $1.31.

Akebia Therapeutics (NASDAQ:AKBA) last released its earnings results on Thursday, November 7th. The biopharmaceutical company reported ($0.10) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.04) by ($0.06). The company had revenue of $37.43 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $45.66 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned ($0.08) EPS. Equities research analysts predict that Akebia Therapeutics will post -0.19 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Akebia Therapeutics by 8.1% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 8,225,972 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $15,054,000 after purchasing an additional 618,500 shares during the last quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC lifted its stake in Akebia Therapeutics by 7.2% in the second quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 3,914,800 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $3,993,000 after purchasing an additional 262,700 shares during the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its position in shares of Akebia Therapeutics by 3,122.2% during the second quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 604,551 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $617,000 after buying an additional 585,789 shares during the period. Rhumbline Advisers raised its holdings in shares of Akebia Therapeutics by 4,915.4% in the second quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 247,060 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $252,000 after buying an additional 242,134 shares during the period. Finally, SG Americas Securities LLC lifted its stake in shares of Akebia Therapeutics by 117.1% during the 3rd quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 71,965 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $95,000 after acquiring an additional 38,821 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 33.92% of the company’s stock.

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.