Akebia Therapeutics (NASDAQ:AKBA) Stock Rating Upgraded by StockNews.com

Akebia Therapeutics (NASDAQ:AKBA) was upgraded by equities research analysts at StockNews.com from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a note issued to investors on Wednesday.

Separately, HC Wainwright lifted their price objective on Akebia Therapeutics from $5.00 to $6.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 28th.

Akebia Therapeutics Price Performance

NASDAQ AKBA opened at $1.51 on Wednesday. The company has a 50-day moving average of $1.64 and a 200-day moving average of $1.31. Akebia Therapeutics has a 12 month low of $0.49 and a 12 month high of $2.48. The company has a market cap of $316.15 million, a P/E ratio of -5.39 and a beta of 0.79.

Akebia Therapeutics (NASDAQ:AKBA) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, March 14th. The biopharmaceutical company reported ($0.04) earnings per share for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.04). The company had revenue of $56.20 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $55.64 million. During the same quarter last year, the business earned ($0.04) EPS. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Akebia Therapeutics will post -0.28 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity at Akebia Therapeutics

In related news, CEO John P. Butler sold 46,489 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $1.68, for a total transaction of $78,101.52. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2,128,883 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,576,523.44. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In related news, CEO John P. Butler sold 46,489 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $1.68, for a total transaction of $78,101.52. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2,128,883 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,576,523.44. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, SVP Steven Keith Burke sold 24,311 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $1.68, for a total transaction of $40,842.48. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 711,376 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,195,111.68. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 187,893 shares of company stock worth $300,598. Corporate insiders own 3.84% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Swiss National Bank raised its holdings in Akebia Therapeutics by 7.8% in the first quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 393,085 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $282,000 after acquiring an additional 28,300 shares in the last quarter. MetLife Investment Management LLC increased its position in shares of Akebia Therapeutics by 176.6% in the 1st quarter. MetLife Investment Management LLC now owns 85,186 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $61,000 after purchasing an additional 54,389 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its stake in shares of Akebia Therapeutics by 2.8% in the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,666,861 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $1,915,000 after purchasing an additional 73,020 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Akebia Therapeutics by 8.8% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 14,402,988 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $10,339,000 after purchasing an additional 1,167,319 shares in the last quarter. Finally, XTX Topco Ltd lifted its position in shares of Akebia Therapeutics by 282.7% during the first quarter. XTX Topco Ltd now owns 102,392 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $74,000 after purchasing an additional 75,635 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 33.92% of the company’s stock.

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 adult patients.