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

Akebia Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:AKBA - Get Free Report) shares reached a new 52-week high on Monday . The stock traded as high as $3.19 and last traded at $3.15, with a volume of 3677262 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $3.03.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on AKBA shares. Leerink Partnrs raised shares of Akebia Therapeutics to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Monday, April 28th. HC Wainwright began coverage on shares of Akebia Therapeutics in a research report on Wednesday. They issued a "buy" rating and a $8.00 price target on the stock. Piper Sandler boosted their price objective on shares of Akebia Therapeutics from $4.00 to $6.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, March 14th. Jefferies Financial Group began coverage on shares of Akebia Therapeutics in a research report on Tuesday, April 1st. They set a "buy" rating and a $6.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Leerink Partners initiated coverage on Akebia Therapeutics in a research report on Monday, April 28th. They set an "outperform" rating and a $7.00 target price on the stock. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, four have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Akebia Therapeutics presently has an average rating of "Buy" and an average target price of $6.75.

Akebia Therapeutics Trading Up 6.4%

The stock has a market cap of $956.00 million, a P/E ratio of -15.83 and a beta of 0.88. The company's fifty day simple moving average is $2.33 and its 200-day simple moving average is $2.11.

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

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Akebia Therapeutics

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Rhumbline Advisers lifted its position in shares of 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 during the period. Woodline Partners LP acquired a new position in Akebia Therapeutics during the first quarter worth $4,772,000. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Akebia Therapeutics by 171.8% during the first quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 2,724,439 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock valued at $5,231,000 after acquiring an additional 1,722,245 shares during the period. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. lifted its holdings in shares of Akebia Therapeutics by 9.1% during the first quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 137,897 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock valued at $265,000 after acquiring an additional 11,517 shares during the period. Finally, Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Akebia Therapeutics by 28.5% in 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 in the last quarter. 33.92% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.