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

Shares of Akebia Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:AKBA - Get Free Report) have been given a consensus rating of "Buy" by the five brokerages that are covering the company, Marketbeat reports. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. The average 12 month price target among analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $6.63.

AKBA has been the topic of several analyst reports. Piper Sandler increased their price objective on shares of Akebia Therapeutics from $4.00 to $6.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, March 14th. Jefferies Financial Group started coverage on Akebia Therapeutics in a research report on Tuesday, April 1st. They issued a "buy" rating and a $6.00 price target on the stock. HC Wainwright reaffirmed a "buy" rating and set a $7.50 price objective on shares of Akebia Therapeutics in a research note on Friday, April 4th. StockNews.com lowered Akebia Therapeutics from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research note on Friday, April 25th. Finally, Leerink Partners began coverage on Akebia Therapeutics in a research report on Monday. They set an "outperform" rating and a $7.00 target price for the company.

Akebia Therapeutics Price Performance

Shares of AKBA stock traded up $0.06 on Wednesday, reaching $2.45. 2,747,739 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,791,459. Akebia Therapeutics has a one year low of $0.80 and a one year high of $2.89. The stock has a market cap of $578.77 million, a PE ratio of -10.65 and a beta of 0.87. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $2.00 and a 200 day moving average price of $1.95.

Akebia Therapeutics (NASDAQ:AKBA - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, March 13th. The biopharmaceutical company reported ($0.10) earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.05) by ($0.05). The business had revenue of $46.50 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $37.36 million. On average, research analysts expect that Akebia Therapeutics will post -0.3 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Akebia Therapeutics

In other news, insider Nicholas Grund sold 55,621 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, February 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $2.10, for a total transaction of $116,804.10. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 442,579 shares of the company's stock, valued at $929,415.90. This represents a 11.16 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, SVP Steven Keith Burke sold 50,506 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Monday, February 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $2.10, for a total transaction of $106,062.60. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 816,234 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,714,091.40. The trade was a 5.83 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 280,579 shares of company stock valued at $589,216 over the last 90 days. 4.10% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Akebia Therapeutics

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Wealth Effects LLC boosted its position in shares of Akebia Therapeutics by 18.5% during the fourth quarter. Wealth Effects LLC now owns 32,000 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock worth $61,000 after buying an additional 5,000 shares during the period. Unified Investment Management lifted its stake in Akebia Therapeutics by 47.8% in the 1st quarter. Unified Investment Management now owns 17,000 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock valued at $33,000 after acquiring an additional 5,500 shares in the last quarter. TD Waterhouse Canada Inc. boosted its position in Akebia Therapeutics by 8.8% during the 4th quarter. TD Waterhouse Canada Inc. now owns 98,618 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock worth $187,000 after acquiring an additional 8,000 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its stake in shares of Akebia Therapeutics by 10.9% during the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 98,546 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock worth $130,000 after acquiring an additional 9,662 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD raised its holdings in shares of Akebia Therapeutics by 8.9% in the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 137,905 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock valued at $263,000 after purchasing an additional 11,257 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 33.92% of the company's stock.

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.