Akebia Therapeutics (NASDAQ:AKBA) Hits New 52-Week High - What's Next?

Akebia Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:AKBA - Get Free Report)'s share price hit a new 52-week high on Monday . The company traded as high as $4.08 and last traded at $3.98, with a volume of 830117 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $3.97.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

AKBA has been the subject of a number of research reports. Piper Sandler boosted their target price on shares of Akebia Therapeutics from $4.00 to $6.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, March 14th. HC Wainwright initiated coverage on Akebia Therapeutics in a research report on Wednesday, June 4th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $8.00 target price on the stock. Leerink Partners started coverage on shares of Akebia Therapeutics in a research report on Monday, April 28th. They set an "outperform" rating and a $7.00 price objective for the company. Leerink Partnrs upgraded Akebia Therapeutics to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Monday, April 28th. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Akebia Therapeutics from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Saturday, May 3rd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, four have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and a consensus price target of $6.75.

Akebia Therapeutics Price Performance

The company has a market cap of $958.62 million, a P/E ratio of -15.87 and a beta of 0.85. The firm's 50-day moving average is $2.55 and its two-hundred day moving average is $2.19.

Akebia Therapeutics (NASDAQ:AKBA - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, May 8th. The biopharmaceutical company reported $0.03 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of ($0.03) by $0.06. The business had revenue of $57.34 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $44.88 million. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Akebia Therapeutics, Inc. will post -0.3 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Akebia Therapeutics

In other Akebia Therapeutics news, CAO Richard C. Malabre sold 13,334 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, June 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $3.53, for a total transaction of $47,069.02. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 266,914 shares in the company, valued at $942,206.42. The trade was a 4.76% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Company insiders own 3.00% of the company's stock.

Institutional Trading of Akebia Therapeutics

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Baird Financial Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Akebia Therapeutics by 23.0% during the first quarter. Baird Financial Group Inc. now owns 21,393 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock valued at $41,000 after buying an additional 4,000 shares during the last quarter. Unified Investment Management increased its stake in Akebia Therapeutics by 47.8% in the first quarter. Unified Investment Management now owns 17,000 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock worth $33,000 after purchasing an additional 5,500 shares during the period. E Fund Management Co. Ltd. increased its stake in Akebia Therapeutics by 51.9% in the first quarter. E Fund Management Co. Ltd. now owns 19,311 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock worth $37,000 after purchasing an additional 6,595 shares during the period. TD Waterhouse Canada Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Akebia Therapeutics by 8.8% during the fourth quarter. TD Waterhouse Canada Inc. now owns 98,618 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock valued at $187,000 after purchasing an additional 8,000 shares during the period. Finally, Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew 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 worth $263,000 after purchasing an additional 11,257 shares during the last quarter. 33.92% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other 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.