Akebia Therapeutics (NASDAQ:AKBA) Stock Rating Lowered by StockNews.com

Akebia Therapeutics (NASDAQ:AKBA) was downgraded by research analysts at StockNews.com from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report released on Wednesday.

Several other brokerages have also recently commented on AKBA. Piper Sandler increased their target price on Akebia Therapeutics from $4.00 to $6.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, March 14th. Jefferies Financial Group started coverage on shares of Akebia Therapeutics in a report on Tuesday. They issued a “buy” rating and a $6.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, HC Wainwright restated a “buy” rating and set a $7.50 target price on shares of Akebia Therapeutics in a report on Friday, March 14th.

Akebia Therapeutics Trading Up 1.0 %

NASDAQ AKBA traded up $0.02 during trading on Wednesday, reaching $1.93. 3,211,783 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,764,197. The firm has a market capitalization of $455.93 million, a PE ratio of -8.39 and a beta of 0.95. Akebia Therapeutics has a fifty-two week low of $0.80 and a fifty-two week high of $2.89. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $2.06 and its 200-day simple moving average is $1.85.

Akebia Therapeutics (NASDAQ:AKBA) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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 company had revenue of $46.50 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $37.36 million. Equities analysts forecast that Akebia Therapeutics will post -0.3 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Akebia Therapeutics news, insider Nicholas Grund sold 55,621 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $2.10, for a total transaction of $116,804.10. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 442,579 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $929,415.90. The trade was a 11.16 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Steven Keith Burke sold 50,506 shares of Akebia Therapeutics stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $2.10, for a total transaction of $106,062.60. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 816,234 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,714,091.40. This represents a 5.83 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 280,579 shares of company stock valued at $589,216 over the last 90 days. Company insiders own 4.10% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Akebia Therapeutics

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Akebia Therapeutics by 8.1% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 10,884,200 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $20,680,000 after acquiring an additional 813,902 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Akebia Therapeutics by 0.9% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 4,795,095 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $9,112,000 after purchasing an additional 40,631 shares during the last quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC raised its position in shares of Akebia Therapeutics by 2.8% in the 4th quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 3,823,527 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $7,265,000 after purchasing an additional 105,727 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp lifted its position in Akebia Therapeutics by 24.9% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 3,430,527 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $4,528,000 after acquiring an additional 683,287 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Akebia Therapeutics by 3.1% during the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 1,685,641 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $3,203,000 after acquiring an additional 50,542 shares during the last quarter. 33.92% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.