Akebia Therapeutics (NASDAQ:AKBA) Earns "Buy" Rating from HC Wainwright

HC Wainwright reaffirmed their buy rating on shares of Akebia Therapeutics (NASDAQ:AKBA - Free Report) in a research report sent to investors on Thursday morning,Benzinga reports. HC Wainwright currently has a $7.50 target price on the biopharmaceutical company's stock.

Separately, StockNews.com lowered shares of Akebia Therapeutics from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 15th.

Akebia Therapeutics Stock Performance

NASDAQ:AKBA traded down $0.01 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $2.38. The stock had a trading volume of 1,611,984 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,726,146. The business's 50 day moving average is $1.95 and its 200-day moving average is $1.62. The company has a market cap of $519.27 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -10.35 and a beta of 0.72. Akebia Therapeutics has a one year low of $0.80 and a one year high of $2.48.

Akebia Therapeutics (NASDAQ:AKBA - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, November 7th. The biopharmaceutical company reported ($0.10) earnings per share 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 analysts' expectations of $45.66 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted ($0.08) EPS. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Akebia Therapeutics will post -0.3 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Akebia Therapeutics

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Barclays PLC increased its stake in shares of Akebia Therapeutics by 276.1% during the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 273,085 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock worth $360,000 after purchasing an additional 200,482 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP bought a new stake in Akebia Therapeutics in the third quarter valued at approximately $534,000. BNP Paribas Financial Markets lifted its position in shares of Akebia Therapeutics by 205.8% in the third quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 46,270 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock valued at $61,000 after buying an additional 31,137 shares during the last quarter. XTX Topco Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of Akebia Therapeutics in the third quarter valued at approximately $58,000. Finally, State Street Corp boosted its stake in shares of Akebia Therapeutics by 24.9% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 3,430,527 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock worth $4,528,000 after acquiring an additional 683,287 shares during the period. 33.92% of the stock is owned by 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.