Akebia Therapeutics (NASDAQ:AKBA) Rating Increased to Hold at StockNews.com

StockNews.com upgraded shares of Akebia Therapeutics (NASDAQ:AKBA - Free Report) from a sell rating to a hold rating in a research note issued to investors on Thursday.

AKBA has been the subject of a number of other research reports. Piper Sandler boosted their price target on shares of Akebia Therapeutics from $4.00 to $6.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, March 14th. Jefferies Financial Group started coverage on shares of Akebia Therapeutics in a report on Tuesday, April 1st. They issued a "buy" rating and a $6.00 target price on the stock. Finally, HC Wainwright reaffirmed a "buy" rating and set a $7.50 price target on shares of Akebia Therapeutics in a research report on Friday, April 4th.

Akebia Therapeutics Stock Performance

NASDAQ:AKBA traded up $0.04 on Thursday, hitting $1.87. The stock had a trading volume of 443,131 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,772,014. Akebia Therapeutics has a 1 year low of $0.80 and a 1 year high of $2.89. The firm's fifty day simple moving average is $1.95 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $1.87. The stock has a market cap of $440.57 million, a P/E ratio of -8.11 and a beta of 0.87.

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Akebia Therapeutics (NASDAQ:AKBA - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, March 13th. The biopharmaceutical company reported ($0.10) earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates 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. Equities research analysts predict that Akebia Therapeutics will post -0.3 EPS for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO John P. Butler sold 144,250 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 transaction of $302,925.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2,604,330 shares in the company, valued at $5,469,093. This trade represents a 5.25 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CAO Richard C. Malabre sold 30,202 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, February 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $2.10, for a total value of $63,424.20. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 280,248 shares of the company's stock, valued at $588,520.80. The trade was a 9.73 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 280,579 shares of company stock worth $589,216 over the last quarter. 4.10% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Akebia Therapeutics

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in Akebia Therapeutics by 8.1% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 10,884,200 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock valued at $20,680,000 after purchasing an additional 813,902 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake 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 period. Renaissance Technologies LLC grew its stake in 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 acquiring an additional 105,727 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp increased its holdings in 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 purchasing an additional 683,287 shares during the period. Finally, Northern Trust Corp raised its holdings in shares of Akebia Therapeutics by 3.1% in the fourth 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 in 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.