Akebia Therapeutics (NASDAQ:AKBA) Shares Gap Down - What's Next?

Key Points

• Akebia Therapeutics' shares gapped down from $3.79 to $3.21, trading at $3.19 with a volume of over 4 million shares.
• Analyst ratings are mixed, with a consensus rating of "Buy" and a price target of $6.75, while individual reports range from "sell" to "strong buy."
• The company reported a quarterly EPS of $0.03, beating expectations, with revenue of $57.34 million versus the projected $44.88 million.

Akebia Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:AKBA - Get Free Report) shares gapped down before the market opened on Thursday . The stock had previously closed at $3.79, but opened at $3.21. Akebia Therapeutics shares last traded at $3.19, with a volume of 4,144,247 shares changing hands.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

AKBA has been the subject of several research reports. HC Wainwright assumed 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. Wall Street Zen raised Akebia Therapeutics from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Saturday, May 3rd. Leerink Partners assumed coverage on shares of Akebia Therapeutics in a research note on Monday, April 28th. They issued an "outperform" rating and a $7.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Leerink Partnrs raised Akebia Therapeutics to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Monday, April 28th. 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's stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Buy" and a consensus price target of $6.75.

Akebia Therapeutics Trading Down 20.4%

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.89, a current ratio of 2.23 and a quick ratio of 2.02. The company's fifty day simple moving average is $3.68 and its 200-day simple moving average is $2.69. The firm has a market capitalization of $791.86 million, a PE ratio of -14.36 and a beta of 0.96.

Akebia Therapeutics (NASDAQ:AKBA - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 8th. The biopharmaceutical company reported $0.03 earnings per share (EPS) 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 analysts' expectations of $44.88 million. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Akebia Therapeutics, Inc. will post -0.3 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other Akebia Therapeutics news, CAO Richard C. Malabre sold 15,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the chief accounting officer directly owned 266,914 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,070,325.14. This represents a 5.32% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CFO Erik Ostrowski sold 41,314 shares of Akebia Therapeutics stock in a transaction that occurred 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 directly owned 503,586 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,848,160.62. This trade represents a 7.58% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 69,648 shares of company stock valued at $258,841. 3.00% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Akebia Therapeutics

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of AKBA. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in Akebia Therapeutics during the 4th quarter worth $85,000. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Akebia Therapeutics by 8.1% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 10,884,200 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock valued at $20,680,000 after buying an additional 813,902 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its holdings in shares of Akebia Therapeutics by 363.0% in the 4th quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 456,294 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock worth $867,000 after purchasing an additional 357,748 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its position in shares of Akebia Therapeutics by 24.1% during the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 502,127 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock valued at $954,000 after acquiring an additional 97,409 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in Akebia Therapeutics by 0.9% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 4,795,095 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock valued at $9,112,000 after buying an additional 40,631 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other 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.

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