Jefferies Financial Group Begins Coverage on Akebia Therapeutics (NASDAQ:AKBA)

Jefferies Financial Group began coverage on shares of Akebia Therapeutics (NASDAQ:AKBA - Free Report) in a research note issued to investors on Tuesday, Marketbeat Ratings reports. The firm issued a buy rating and a $6.00 price target on the biopharmaceutical company's stock.

AKBA has been the topic of a number of other research reports. HC Wainwright restated a "buy" rating and set a $7.50 target price on shares of Akebia Therapeutics in a research note on Friday, March 14th. Piper Sandler boosted their price objective on Akebia Therapeutics from $4.00 to $6.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, March 14th. Finally, StockNews.com raised Akebia Therapeutics from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Monday, March 17th.

Akebia Therapeutics Stock Down 5.9 %

AKBA traded down $0.11 during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching $1.77. The company had a trading volume of 6,509,155 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,743,460. The business has a 50-day moving average of $2.04 and a two-hundred day moving average of $1.85. Akebia Therapeutics has a 1 year low of $0.80 and a 1 year high of $2.89. The company has a market cap of $418.13 million, a P/E ratio of -7.70 and a beta of 0.95.

Akebia Therapeutics (NASDAQ:AKBA - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results 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 the consensus estimate of $37.36 million. On average, equities research analysts predict that Akebia Therapeutics will post -0.3 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity at Akebia Therapeutics

In other Akebia Therapeutics news, CAO Richard C. Malabre sold 30,202 shares of the firm'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 $63,424.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 280,248 shares in the company, valued at $588,520.80. This trade represents a 9.73 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, SVP Steven Keith Burke sold 50,506 shares of the company'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 value of $106,062.60. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 816,234 shares in the company, valued at $1,714,091.40. This trade represents a 5.83 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 280,579 shares of company stock valued at $589,216. Corporate insiders own 4.10% of the company's stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Akebia Therapeutics

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake 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 buying an additional 813,902 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Akebia Therapeutics by 0.9% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 4,795,095 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock valued at $9,112,000 after acquiring an additional 40,631 shares during the last quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC grew its position in Akebia Therapeutics by 2.8% in the fourth quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 3,823,527 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock worth $7,265,000 after acquiring an additional 105,727 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp increased its stake in Akebia Therapeutics by 24.9% during the third 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 last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp raised its position in Akebia Therapeutics by 3.1% during the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 1,685,641 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock valued at $3,203,000 after purchasing an additional 50,542 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 33.92% of the company's stock.

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.