Akebia Therapeutics (NASDAQ:AKBA) Upgraded to “Hold” at StockNews.com

StockNews.com upgraded shares of Akebia Therapeutics (NASDAQ:AKBA) from a sell rating to a hold rating in a report published on Tuesday.

Separately, 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

NASDAQ AKBA opened at $1.86 on Tuesday. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $1.90 and a 200-day simple moving average of $1.52. Akebia Therapeutics has a 52-week low of $0.80 and a 52-week high of $2.48. The firm has a market capitalization of $405.82 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -8.09 and a beta of 0.72.

Akebia Therapeutics (NASDAQ:AKBA) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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 analyst estimates of $45.66 million. During the same period last year, the company posted ($0.08) EPS. On average, analysts predict that Akebia Therapeutics will post -0.24 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Akebia Therapeutics

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its position in Akebia Therapeutics by 10.9% in the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 98,546 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $130,000 after buying an additional 9,662 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. bought a new position in shares of Akebia Therapeutics during the 3rd quarter worth about $221,000. Barclays PLC lifted its stake in shares of Akebia Therapeutics by 276.1% in the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 273,085 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $360,000 after buying an additional 200,482 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in Akebia Therapeutics by 4.8% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 4,754,464 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $6,277,000 after buying an additional 218,172 shares in the last quarter. Finally, XTX Topco Ltd bought a new position in Akebia Therapeutics during the third quarter valued at about $58,000. 33.92% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.