Akebia Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:AKBA) CEO Sells $302,925.00 in Stock

Akebia Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:AKBA) CEO John P. Butler sold 144,250 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $2.10, for a total value of $302,925.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2,604,330 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,469,093. This represents a 5.25 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link.

Akebia Therapeutics Stock Performance

Shares of AKBA stock opened at $2.16 on Friday. Akebia Therapeutics, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $0.80 and a fifty-two week high of $2.48. The firm has a market capitalization of $471.27 million, a PE ratio of -9.39 and a beta of 0.74. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $2.00 and its 200-day simple moving average is $1.68.

Akebia Therapeutics (NASDAQ:AKBA) last released its quarterly earnings data 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 for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $45.66 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned ($0.08) EPS. Sell-side analysts forecast that Akebia Therapeutics, Inc. will post -0.3 earnings per share for the current year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

AKBA has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. HC Wainwright reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $7.50 target price on shares of Akebia Therapeutics in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Akebia Therapeutics from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 15th.

Institutional Trading of Akebia Therapeutics

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Akebia Therapeutics during the 4th quarter worth approximately $26,000. Empirical Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Akebia Therapeutics in the third quarter worth about $44,000. B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Akebia Therapeutics during the 2nd quarter worth about $44,000. XTX Topco Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of Akebia Therapeutics during the 3rd quarter valued at about $58,000. Finally, Intech Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Akebia Therapeutics in the 3rd quarter valued at about $59,000. 33.92% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.