HC Wainwright Reaffirms "Buy" Rating for Akebia Therapeutics (NASDAQ:AKBA)

HC Wainwright restated their buy rating on shares of Akebia Therapeutics (NASDAQ:AKBA - Free Report) in a research report report published on Friday,Benzinga reports. They currently have a $7.50 target price on the biopharmaceutical company's stock.

Other equities research analysts have also issued reports about the company. Piper Sandler boosted their target price on Akebia Therapeutics from $4.00 to $6.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, March 14th. Jefferies Financial Group initiated coverage on shares of Akebia Therapeutics in a research note on Tuesday, April 1st. They issued a "buy" rating and a $6.00 price objective for the company. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded shares of Akebia Therapeutics from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 2nd.

Akebia Therapeutics Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:AKBA traded down $0.02 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $1.66. 4,061,928 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,753,484. The company's fifty day simple moving average is $2.00 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $1.86. The company has a market cap of $393.09 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -7.20 and a beta of 0.87. Akebia Therapeutics has a 52 week low of $0.80 and a 52 week high of $2.89.

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Akebia Therapeutics (NASDAQ:AKBA - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, March 13th. The biopharmaceutical company reported ($0.10) 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. On average, analysts anticipate that Akebia Therapeutics will post -0.3 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Akebia Therapeutics

In other news, CEO John P. Butler sold 144,250 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $2.10, for a total transaction of $302,925.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2,604,330 shares of the company's stock, valued at $5,469,093. This trade represents a 5.25 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, SVP Steven Keith Burke sold 50,506 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $2.10, for a total value of $106,062.60. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 816,234 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,714,091.40. The trade was 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 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 4.10% of the company's stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Akebia Therapeutics

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Barclays PLC raised its holdings in Akebia Therapeutics by 276.1% during the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 273,085 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock valued at $360,000 after buying an additional 200,482 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP acquired a new position in shares of Akebia Therapeutics during the 3rd quarter valued at about $534,000. BNP Paribas Financial Markets raised its stake in shares of Akebia Therapeutics by 205.8% in the 3rd quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 46,270 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock valued at $61,000 after acquiring an additional 31,137 shares in the last quarter. XTX Topco Ltd acquired a new stake in Akebia Therapeutics in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $58,000. Finally, State Street Corp boosted its position 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 purchasing an additional 683,287 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.