Akebia Therapeutics (NASDAQ:AKBA) Shares Pass Above 50 Day Moving Average of $0.45

Akebia Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:AKBA – Get Rating) crossed above its fifty day moving average during trading on Monday . The stock has a fifty day moving average of $0.45 and traded as high as $0.74. Akebia Therapeutics shares last traded at $0.71, with a volume of 915,213 shares traded.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Separately, StockNews.com initiated coverage on Akebia Therapeutics in a research note on Monday, January 2nd. They issued a “buy” rating on the stock. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $1.75.

Akebia Therapeutics Stock Performance

The company has a 50 day moving average price of $0.45 and a 200 day moving average price of $0.39. The firm has a market cap of $130.67 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -0.81 and a beta of 0.87.

Akebia Therapeutics (NASDAQ:AKBA – Get Rating) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, November 3rd. The biopharmaceutical company reported ($0.28) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.15) by ($0.13). The firm had revenue of $48.96 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $47.17 million. Akebia Therapeutics had a negative net margin of 52.42% and a negative return on equity of 315.92%. On average, research analysts forecast that Akebia Therapeutics, Inc. will post -0.59 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Akebia Therapeutics

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio purchased a new stake in shares of Akebia Therapeutics in the 3rd quarter valued at $58,000. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. increased its holdings in Akebia Therapeutics by 162.7% during the 3rd quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. now owns 2,042,816 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $646,000 after purchasing an additional 1,265,199 shares during the period. Two Sigma Investments LP increased its holdings in Akebia Therapeutics by 151.6% during the 3rd quarter. Two Sigma Investments LP now owns 537,361 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $170,000 after purchasing an additional 323,812 shares during the period. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its holdings in Akebia Therapeutics by 254.4% during the 3rd quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 166,900 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $54,000 after purchasing an additional 119,800 shares during the period. Finally, Marshall Wace LLP purchased a new stake in Akebia Therapeutics during the 3rd quarter worth about $101,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 28.13% of the company’s stock.

Akebia Therapeutics Company Profile

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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 vadadustat, an oral therapy, which is in Phase III development for the treatment of anemia due to chronic kidney disease (CKD) in dialysis-dependent and non-dialysis dependent adult patients.