Akebia Therapeutics (NASDAQ:AKBA) Upgraded at StockNews.com

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

Other equities analysts have also recently issued research reports about the stock. 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 research note on Friday. HC Wainwright reissued a “buy” rating and set a $7.50 target price on shares of Akebia Therapeutics in a research note on Friday.

Akebia Therapeutics Stock Performance

Akebia Therapeutics stock opened at $2.40 on Monday. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $2.03 and its 200-day moving average is $1.79. Akebia Therapeutics has a 1 year low of $0.80 and a 1 year high of $2.48. The company has a market cap of $523.63 million, a P/E ratio of -10.43 and a beta of 0.94.

Akebia Therapeutics (NASDAQ:AKBA) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, March 13th. The biopharmaceutical company reported ($0.10) earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.05) by ($0.05). The company had revenue of $46.50 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $37.36 million. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Akebia Therapeutics will post -0.3 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Akebia Therapeutics news, SVP Steven Keith Burke sold 50,506 shares of Akebia Therapeutics 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 $106,062.60. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 816,234 shares in the company, valued at $1,714,091.40. The trade was a 5.83 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO John P. Butler sold 144,250 shares of Akebia Therapeutics stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $2.10, for a total transaction of $302,925.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2,604,330 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,469,093. This represents a 5.25 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 280,579 shares of company stock worth $589,216. 4.10% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Akebia Therapeutics

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Intech Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in Akebia Therapeutics in the 3rd quarter valued at $59,000. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company bought a new stake in Akebia Therapeutics in the 3rd quarter valued at $104,000. FMR LLC increased its holdings in Akebia Therapeutics by 26.0% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 682,038 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $900,000 after buying an additional 140,529 shares during the period. BNP Paribas Financial Markets increased its holdings in Akebia Therapeutics by 205.8% in the 3rd quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 46,270 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $61,000 after buying an additional 31,137 shares during the period. Finally, MetLife Investment Management LLC increased its holdings in Akebia Therapeutics by 25.7% in the 3rd quarter. MetLife Investment Management LLC now owns 68,064 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $90,000 after buying an additional 13,907 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 33.92% of the company’s stock.

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.