Akebia Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:AKBA) Short Interest Update

Akebia Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:AKBA - Get Free Report) saw a large decrease in short interest during the month of October. As of October 15th, there was short interest totalling 17,680,000 shares, a decrease of 6.0% from the September 30th total of 18,800,000 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 1,670,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 10.6 days.

Akebia Therapeutics Trading Down 2.4 %

AKBA traded down $0.04 during trading on Thursday, hitting $1.66. 2,105,650 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 3,129,067. The company's 50 day simple moving average is $1.42 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $1.29. Akebia Therapeutics has a 12-month low of $0.80 and a 12-month high of $2.48. The stock has a market capitalization of $347.93 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -7.37 and a beta of 0.77.

Akebia Therapeutics (NASDAQ:AKBA - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, August 8th. The biopharmaceutical company reported ($0.04) EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.06) by $0.02. The business had revenue of $43.65 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $45.61 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted ($0.06) earnings per share. On average, equities analysts expect that Akebia Therapeutics will post -0.19 EPS for the current year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Akebia Therapeutics

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of AKBA. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in Akebia Therapeutics by 8.1% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 8,225,972 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock worth $15,054,000 after purchasing an additional 618,500 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its holdings in Akebia Therapeutics by 3,122.2% during the second quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 604,551 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock valued at $617,000 after acquiring an additional 585,789 shares during the period. Renaissance Technologies LLC raised its holdings in Akebia Therapeutics by 7.2% during the second quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 3,914,800 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock valued at $3,993,000 after acquiring an additional 262,700 shares during the period. Rhumbline Advisers raised its holdings in Akebia Therapeutics by 4,915.4% during the second quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 247,060 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock valued at $252,000 after acquiring an additional 242,134 shares during the period. Finally, Lazard Asset Management LLC bought a new stake in Akebia Therapeutics during the first quarter valued at about $79,000. 33.92% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Separately, HC Wainwright restated a "buy" rating and issued a $7.50 price target on shares of Akebia Therapeutics in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd.

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.