Insider Selling: Akebia Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:AKBA) Insider Sells 55,621 Shares of Stock

Akebia Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:AKBA) insider Nicholas Grund sold 55,621 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $2.10, for a total value of $116,804.10. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 442,579 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $929,415.90. The trade was a 11.16 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink.

Akebia Therapeutics Price Performance

NASDAQ AKBA traded up $0.02 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $2.14. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 1,343,441 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,507,634. Akebia Therapeutics, Inc. has a 12 month low of $0.80 and a 12 month high of $2.48. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $2.00 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $1.67. The company has a market cap of $466.91 million, a P/E ratio of -9.30 and a beta of 0.74.

Akebia Therapeutics (NASDAQ:AKBA) last announced its earnings results 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 business had revenue of $37.43 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $45.66 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned ($0.08) earnings per share. As a group, research analysts predict that Akebia Therapeutics, Inc. will post -0.3 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms recently commented on AKBA. HC Wainwright reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $7.50 price objective on shares of Akebia Therapeutics in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. StockNews.com downgraded Akebia Therapeutics from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 15th.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its position in Akebia Therapeutics by 5.9% in the fourth quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 497,547 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $945,000 after purchasing an additional 27,839 shares during the last quarter. Rhumbline Advisers boosted its position in Akebia Therapeutics by 9.3% in the fourth quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 265,389 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $504,000 after purchasing an additional 22,513 shares during the last quarter. Wealth Effects LLC boosted its position in Akebia Therapeutics by 18.5% in the fourth quarter. Wealth Effects LLC now owns 32,000 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $61,000 after purchasing an additional 5,000 shares during the last quarter. AlphaMark Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Akebia Therapeutics in the fourth quarter worth about $73,000. Finally, SG Americas Securities LLC boosted its position in Akebia Therapeutics by 62.3% in the fourth quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 116,771 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $222,000 after purchasing an additional 44,806 shares during the last quarter. 33.92% of the stock is 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.