Analysts Set Akebia Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:AKBA) Price Target at $6.75

Key Points

• Akebia Therapeutics has received an average consensus recommendation of "Buy" from six research firms, with a 12-month price objective set at $6.75.
• Insider trading activity saw CAO Richard C. Malabre and CFO Erik Ostrowski sell significant shares, leading to a combined decrease of 12.90% in their ownership positions.
• Recent institutional investments include purchases by multiple hedge funds, with 33.92% of the company's stock now held by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Shares of Akebia Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:AKBA - Get Free Report) have been assigned an average recommendation of "Buy" from the six ratings firms that are currently covering the firm, Marketbeat Ratings reports. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold recommendation, four have issued a buy recommendation and one has given a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 1-year target price among brokerages that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $6.75.

A number of research firms have recently commented on AKBA. HC Wainwright initiated coverage on shares of Akebia Therapeutics in a research report on Wednesday, June 4th. They set a "buy" rating and a $8.00 price target for the company. Zacks Research lowered Akebia Therapeutics from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 13th. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised Akebia Therapeutics from a "buy" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Friday.

Akebia Therapeutics Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:AKBA traded down $0.06 during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching $2.96. 5,954,291 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 3,737,885. The company has a quick ratio of 1.84, a current ratio of 1.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.61. Akebia Therapeutics has a 12 month low of $1.24 and a 12 month high of $4.08. The firm has a market capitalization of $784.81 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -17.41 and a beta of 1.02. The firm's fifty day moving average price is $3.49 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $2.84.

Insider Buying and Selling at Akebia Therapeutics

In related news, CFO Erik Ostrowski sold 41,314 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, June 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $3.67, for a total value of $151,622.38. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 503,586 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,848,160.62. This represents a 7.58% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CAO Richard C. Malabre sold 15,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on 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 transaction, the chief accounting officer directly owned 266,914 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,070,325.14. This represents a 5.32% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 3.00% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Abel Hall LLC bought a new position in shares of Akebia Therapeutics during the second quarter valued at about $39,000. Mariner LLC bought a new position in shares of Akebia Therapeutics during the fourth quarter valued at about $28,000. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC bought a new stake in shares of Akebia Therapeutics during the 2nd quarter valued at about $59,000. Unified Investment Management boosted its stake in shares of Akebia Therapeutics by 47.8% during the 1st quarter. Unified Investment Management now owns 17,000 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock valued at $33,000 after purchasing an additional 5,500 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Brevan Howard Capital Management LP bought a new stake in shares of Akebia Therapeutics during the 2nd quarter valued at about $62,000. 33.92% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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 patients.