Akebia Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:AKBA) Shares Bought by JPMorgan Chase & Co.

JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its position in shares of Akebia Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:AKBA - Free Report) by 363.0% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 456,294 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock after purchasing an additional 357,748 shares during the quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. owned 0.21% of Akebia Therapeutics worth $867,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of AKBA. Wealth Effects LLC raised its stake in shares of Akebia Therapeutics by 18.5% during the 4th 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 last quarter. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in Akebia Therapeutics during the fourth quarter worth about $26,000. PDS Planning Inc purchased a new stake in shares of Akebia Therapeutics in the fourth quarter valued at about $28,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its position in shares of Akebia Therapeutics by 3.2% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 586,710 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock valued at $1,115,000 after purchasing an additional 18,043 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Cibc World Markets Corp purchased a new position in shares of Akebia Therapeutics during the 4th quarter worth approximately $37,000. 33.92% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, SVP Steven Keith Burke sold 50,506 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $2.10, for a total value of $106,062.60. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 816,234 shares in the company, valued at $1,714,091.40. This trade represents a 5.83 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Nicholas Grund sold 55,621 shares of Akebia Therapeutics stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $2.10, for a total value of $116,804.10. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 442,579 shares in the company, valued at $929,415.90. This represents a 11.16 % 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 quarter. Company insiders own 4.10% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms recently issued reports on AKBA. StockNews.com raised Akebia Therapeutics from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Saturday. 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. Piper Sandler lifted their price objective on Akebia Therapeutics from $4.00 to $6.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, March 14th. Jefferies Financial Group assumed coverage on shares of Akebia Therapeutics in a report on Tuesday, April 1st. They issued a "buy" rating and a $6.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Leerink Partnrs upgraded shares of Akebia Therapeutics to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Monday, April 28th. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, four have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Akebia Therapeutics currently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and an average target price of $6.63.

Akebia Therapeutics Stock Performance

Akebia Therapeutics stock traded up $0.06 during trading on Friday, hitting $2.45. The company's stock had a trading volume of 2,747,739 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,790,152. The stock's fifty day moving average is $2.00 and its 200 day moving average is $1.96. Akebia Therapeutics, Inc. has a 1-year low of $0.80 and a 1-year high of $2.89. The stock has a market capitalization of $641.37 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -10.65 and a beta of 0.87.

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

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.