Franklin Resources Inc. Makes New $221,000 Investment in Akebia Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:AKBA)

Franklin Resources Inc. acquired a new position in Akebia Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:AKBA) in the third quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm acquired 167,184 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock, valued at approximately $221,000.

Several other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV lifted its position in Akebia Therapeutics by 40.7% in the 2nd quarter. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV now owns 31,221 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $32,000 after buying an additional 9,037 shares during the last quarter. MetLife Investment Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Akebia Therapeutics by 25.7% during the third quarter. MetLife Investment Management LLC now owns 68,064 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $90,000 after acquiring an additional 13,907 shares in the last quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets raised its stake in shares of Akebia Therapeutics by 205.8% during the third quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 46,270 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $61,000 after acquiring an additional 31,137 shares in the last quarter. Empirical Asset Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Akebia Therapeutics in the 3rd quarter valued at $44,000. Finally, SG Americas Securities LLC boosted its stake in shares of Akebia Therapeutics by 117.1% in the 3rd quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 71,965 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $95,000 after purchasing an additional 38,821 shares in the last quarter. 33.92% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts recently commented on AKBA shares. StockNews.com cut shares of Akebia Therapeutics from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Monday. HC Wainwright reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $7.50 price objective on shares of Akebia Therapeutics in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd.

Akebia Therapeutics Price Performance

Shares of Akebia Therapeutics stock opened at $1.90 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $414.54 million, a P/E ratio of -8.26 and a beta of 0.70. Akebia Therapeutics, Inc. has a one year low of $0.80 and a one year high of $2.48. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $1.88 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $1.50.

Akebia Therapeutics (NASDAQ:AKBA) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, November 7th. The biopharmaceutical company reported ($0.10) EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.04) by ($0.06). The company had revenue of $37.43 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $45.66 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted ($0.08) earnings per share. Sell-side analysts expect that Akebia Therapeutics, Inc. will post -0.24 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Akebia Therapeutics 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.