Akebia Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:AKBA) Short Interest Update

Akebia Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:AKBA) was the recipient of a significant growth in short interest in the month of December. As of December 15th, there was short interest totalling 14,070,000 shares, a growth of 21.7% from the November 30th total of 11,560,000 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 1,990,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 7.1 days.

Akebia Therapeutics Price Performance

Akebia Therapeutics stock traded up $0.02 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $1.95. The company had a trading volume of 1,633,055 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,997,179. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $1.86 and a 200 day moving average of $1.48. The firm has a market cap of $425.45 million, a PE ratio of -8.48 and a beta of 0.70. Akebia Therapeutics has a one year low of $0.80 and a one year high of $2.48.

Akebia Therapeutics (NASDAQ:AKBA) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, November 7th. The biopharmaceutical company reported ($0.10) earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.04) by ($0.06). The firm had revenue of $37.43 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $45.66 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted ($0.08) EPS. As a group, research analysts expect that Akebia Therapeutics will post -0.24 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in AKBA. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV grew its stake in shares of Akebia Therapeutics by 40.7% in the second quarter. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV now owns 31,221 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $32,000 after acquiring an additional 9,037 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its holdings in Akebia Therapeutics by 10.9% in the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 98,546 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $130,000 after purchasing an additional 9,662 shares during the period. MetLife Investment Management LLC grew its position in shares of Akebia Therapeutics by 25.7% during the 3rd quarter. MetLife Investment Management LLC now owns 68,064 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $90,000 after purchasing an additional 13,907 shares in the last quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets increased its holdings 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 purchasing an additional 31,137 shares during the period. Finally, Empirical Asset Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Akebia Therapeutics in the third quarter valued at approximately $44,000. Institutional investors own 33.92% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on the company. HC Wainwright reissued a “buy” rating and set a $7.50 target price on shares of Akebia Therapeutics in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. StockNews.com raised shares of Akebia Therapeutics from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, December 13th.

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.