HC Wainwright Reaffirms “Buy” Rating for Akebia Therapeutics (NASDAQ:AKBA)

Akebia Therapeutics (NASDAQ:AKBA)‘s stock had its “buy” rating reissued by equities researchers at HC Wainwright in a note issued to investors on Friday,Benzinga reports. They currently have a $7.50 price target on the biopharmaceutical company’s stock. HC Wainwright’s price target suggests a potential upside of 323.73% from the company’s previous close.

Several other research analysts have also issued reports on the stock. Piper Sandler increased 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. Jefferies Financial Group initiated coverage on shares of Akebia Therapeutics in a research report on Tuesday, April 1st. They set a “buy” rating and a $6.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, StockNews.com lowered Akebia Therapeutics from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Wednesday.

Akebia Therapeutics Price Performance

Shares of Akebia Therapeutics stock opened at $1.77 on Friday. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $2.04 and its 200 day moving average is $1.85. Akebia Therapeutics has a one year low of $0.80 and a one year high of $2.89. The firm has a market cap of $418.13 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -7.70 and a beta of 0.95.

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

Insider Buying and Selling at Akebia Therapeutics

In related news, CAO Richard C. Malabre sold 30,202 shares of the firm’s 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 transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 280,248 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $588,520.80. This trade represents a 9.73 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO John P. Butler sold 144,250 shares of Akebia Therapeutics stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $2.10, for a total value of $302,925.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 2,604,330 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,469,093. This trade represents a 5.25 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 280,579 shares of company stock worth $589,216. 4.10% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Barclays PLC grew its holdings in Akebia Therapeutics by 276.1% during the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 273,085 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $360,000 after buying an additional 200,482 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP bought a new stake in shares of Akebia Therapeutics in the 3rd quarter worth $534,000. BNP Paribas Financial Markets grew its stake in shares of Akebia Therapeutics by 205.8% in the 3rd 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. XTX Topco Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of Akebia Therapeutics in the third quarter valued at about $58,000. Finally, State Street Corp lifted its position in shares of Akebia Therapeutics by 24.9% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 3,430,527 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $4,528,000 after purchasing an additional 683,287 shares in 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.