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

Akebia Therapeutics (NASDAQ:AKBA - Get Free Report)'s stock had its "buy" rating reissued by HC Wainwright in a research report issued on Friday, Benzinga reports. They currently have a $7.50 price target on the biopharmaceutical company's stock. HC Wainwright's target price points to a potential upside of 455.56% from the stock's previous close.

Akebia Therapeutics Stock Down 2.2 %

Shares of Akebia Therapeutics stock traded down $0.03 on Friday, hitting $1.35. 1,692,148 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 3,490,021. The stock has a market cap of $282.95 million, a P/E ratio of -5.91 and a beta of 0.77. The firm's 50-day moving average is $1.31 and its 200 day moving average is $1.35. Akebia Therapeutics has a 52-week low of $0.78 and a 52-week high of $2.48.

Akebia Therapeutics (NASDAQ:AKBA - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 8th. The biopharmaceutical company reported ($0.04) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.06) by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $43.65 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $45.61 million. During the same quarter last year, the business earned ($0.06) earnings per share. Equities research analysts forecast that Akebia Therapeutics will post -0.19 EPS for the current year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Akebia Therapeutics

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in Akebia Therapeutics by 8.1% during the first 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 last quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC lifted its stake 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 worth $3,993,000 after purchasing an additional 262,700 shares during the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. bought a new position in Akebia Therapeutics during the first quarter worth $1,447,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its stake 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 worth $617,000 after purchasing an additional 585,789 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Rhumbline Advisers lifted its stake in Akebia Therapeutics by 4,915.4% in the second quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 247,060 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock valued at $252,000 after buying an additional 242,134 shares during the last quarter. 33.92% of the stock is currently 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.