Akebia Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:AKBA) Receives $6.75 Average Price Target from Analysts

Key Points

• Akebia Therapeutics has received a consensus recommendation of "Buy" from five research firms, with an average 12-month price target of $6.75.
• The company's recent earnings report showed an EPS of $0.03, exceeding the expected loss, and revenue of $57.34 million, surpassing estimates.
• Significant insider selling occurred with CFO Erik Ostrowski selling 41,314 shares, reducing his ownership by 7.58%, amidst notable interest from institutional investors, owning 33.92% of the stock.

Akebia Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:AKBA - Get Free Report) has been assigned a consensus recommendation of "Buy" from the five analysts that are currently covering the stock, MarketBeat.com reports. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a buy recommendation and one has given a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 12 month price target among analysts that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $6.75.

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on AKBA shares. Wall Street Zen upgraded Akebia Therapeutics from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Saturday, May 3rd. Leerink Partnrs upgraded Akebia Therapeutics to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Monday, April 28th. HC Wainwright assumed coverage on Akebia Therapeutics in a report on Wednesday, June 4th. They set a "buy" rating and a $8.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, Leerink Partners started coverage on Akebia Therapeutics in a research report on Monday, April 28th. They issued an "outperform" rating and a $7.00 target price on the stock.

Akebia Therapeutics Stock Performance

AKBA stock traded down $0.01 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $3.41. The stock had a trading volume of 963,487 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,174,237. The company has a current ratio of 1.98, a quick ratio of 1.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.61. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $3.69 and a 200 day simple moving average of $2.71. Akebia Therapeutics has a 52 week low of $1.15 and a 52 week high of $4.08. The firm has a market capitalization of $903.33 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -20.15 and a beta of 0.96.

Akebia Therapeutics (NASDAQ:AKBA - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 8th. The biopharmaceutical company reported $0.03 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.03) by $0.06. The company had revenue of $57.34 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $44.88 million. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Akebia Therapeutics will post -0.3 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity at Akebia Therapeutics

In related news, CFO Erik Ostrowski sold 41,314 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $3.67, for a total transaction of $151,622.38. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 503,586 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,848,160.62. The trade was a 7.58% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CAO Richard C. Malabre sold 15,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $4.01, for a total value of $60,150.00. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer directly owned 266,914 shares in the company, valued at $1,070,325.14. The trade was a 5.32% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 69,648 shares of company stock worth $258,841 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 3.00% of the company's stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Bank of America Corp DE lifted its position in shares of Akebia Therapeutics by 117.9% during the 4th quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 543,916 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock valued at $1,033,000 after acquiring an additional 294,343 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its holdings in Akebia Therapeutics by 24.1% in the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 502,127 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock worth $954,000 after purchasing an additional 97,409 shares in the last quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. increased its holdings in Akebia Therapeutics by 10.7% in the 4th quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 126,380 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock worth $240,000 after purchasing an additional 12,232 shares in the last quarter. Deutsche Bank AG increased its holdings in Akebia Therapeutics by 64.0% in the 4th quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 181,048 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock worth $344,000 after purchasing an additional 70,663 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in Akebia Therapeutics by 0.9% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 4,795,095 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock worth $9,112,000 after purchasing an additional 40,631 shares in the last quarter. 33.92% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.