Akebia Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:AKBA) Receives Consensus Rating of "Buy" from Analysts

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

Several research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Akebia Therapeutics from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Saturday, May 3rd. Piper Sandler lifted their price objective on Akebia Therapeutics from $4.00 to $6.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, March 14th. HC Wainwright began coverage on shares of Akebia Therapeutics in a report on Wednesday, June 4th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $8.00 target price on the stock. Leerink Partnrs upgraded shares of Akebia Therapeutics to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Monday, April 28th. Finally, Leerink Partners initiated coverage on shares of Akebia Therapeutics in a report on Monday, April 28th. They set an "outperform" rating and a $7.00 price target for the company.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Akebia Therapeutics news, CAO Richard C. Malabre sold 15,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $4.01, for a total value of $60,150.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 266,914 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,070,325.14. This trade represents a 5.32% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Insiders own 3.00% of the company's stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Akebia Therapeutics

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of AKBA. Rhumbline Advisers lifted its holdings in Akebia Therapeutics by 6.3% during the 1st quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 282,066 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock worth $542,000 after buying an additional 16,677 shares in the last quarter. Woodline Partners LP acquired a new position in shares of Akebia Therapeutics during the first quarter valued at $4,772,000. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. increased its position in Akebia Therapeutics by 171.8% in the first quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 2,724,439 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock worth $5,231,000 after purchasing an additional 1,722,245 shares during the period. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. raised its holdings in Akebia Therapeutics by 9.1% during the 1st quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 137,897 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock worth $265,000 after purchasing an additional 11,517 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. lifted its position in Akebia Therapeutics by 28.5% during the 1st quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. now owns 1,579,355 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock valued at $3,032,000 after purchasing an additional 350,645 shares during the period. 33.92% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Akebia Therapeutics Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:AKBA traded up $0.03 during trading on Thursday, hitting $3.59. 1,028,651 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,203,929. The company has a market capitalization of $941.56 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -16.91 and a beta of 0.85. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.89, a quick ratio of 2.02 and a current ratio of 2.23. Akebia Therapeutics has a 1-year low of $0.80 and a 1-year high of $4.08. The company's fifty day simple moving average is $2.78 and its 200-day simple moving average is $2.25.

Akebia Therapeutics (NASDAQ:AKBA - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 8th. The biopharmaceutical company reported $0.03 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of ($0.03) by $0.06. The business had revenue of $57.34 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $44.88 million. Sell-side analysts expect that Akebia Therapeutics will post -0.3 EPS 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.