Akebia Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:AKBA) Given Average Rating of "Buy" by Analysts

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

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CAO Richard C. Malabre sold 15,000 shares of Akebia Therapeutics stock in a transaction 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 owned 266,914 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,070,325.14. This trade represents a 5.32% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CFO Erik Ostrowski sold 41,314 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $3.67, for a total value of $151,622.38. Following the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 503,586 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,848,160.62. This trade represents a 7.58% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 69,648 shares of company stock valued at $258,841. Insiders own 3.00% of the company's stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. ProShare Advisors LLC grew its stake in Akebia Therapeutics by 9.4% during the second quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 51,266 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock worth $187,000 after buying an additional 4,388 shares during the period. Profund Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Akebia Therapeutics by 22.6% during the 2nd quarter. Profund Advisors LLC now owns 55,062 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock valued at $200,000 after acquiring an additional 10,140 shares in the last quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC purchased a new stake in Akebia Therapeutics during the 2nd quarter worth $4,913,000. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. boosted its position in Akebia Therapeutics by 21.7% during the 2nd quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. now owns 1,180,759 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock worth $4,298,000 after purchasing an additional 210,925 shares during the period. Finally, Savant Capital LLC acquired a new stake in Akebia Therapeutics in the 2nd quarter valued at $69,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 33.92% of the company's stock.

Akebia Therapeutics Trading Down 20.6%

Shares of AKBA stock opened at $3.01 on Friday. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $3.68 and a 200 day moving average price of $2.69. Akebia Therapeutics has a twelve month low of $1.07 and a twelve month high of $4.08. The company has a market capitalization of $790.55 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -14.33 and a beta of 0.96. The company has a current ratio of 2.23, a quick ratio of 2.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.89.

Akebia Therapeutics (NASDAQ:AKBA - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 8th. The biopharmaceutical company reported $0.03 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of ($0.03) by $0.06. The firm had revenue of $57.34 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $44.88 million. Research analysts forecast that Akebia Therapeutics will post -0.3 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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.

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