Akebia Therapeutics (NASDAQ:AKBA) Shares Gap Up - Here's What Happened

Akebia Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:AKBA - Get Free Report)'s stock price gapped up prior to trading on Monday . The stock had previously closed at $2.38, but opened at $2.48. Akebia Therapeutics shares last traded at $2.38, with a volume of 609,193 shares trading hands.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

AKBA has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Piper Sandler upped their price target 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. Leerink Partners assumed coverage on Akebia Therapeutics in a research report on Monday, April 28th. They issued an "outperform" rating and a $7.00 target price for the company. Leerink Partnrs raised Akebia Therapeutics to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Monday, April 28th. Jefferies Financial Group started coverage on Akebia Therapeutics in a research note on Tuesday, April 1st. They issued a "buy" rating and a $6.00 price target for the company. Finally, StockNews.com raised shares of Akebia Therapeutics from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Saturday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, four have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, Akebia Therapeutics has a consensus rating of "Buy" and a consensus target price of $6.63.

Akebia Therapeutics Price Performance

The company has a market cap of $641.37 million, a P/E ratio of -10.65 and a beta of 0.87. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $2.00 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $1.95.

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

Insider Transactions at Akebia Therapeutics

In other Akebia Therapeutics news, SVP Steven Keith Burke sold 50,506 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $2.10, for a total transaction of $106,062.60. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 816,234 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,714,091.40. This represents a 5.83 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CEO John P. Butler sold 144,250 shares of Akebia Therapeutics stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $2.10, for a total transaction of $302,925.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 2,604,330 shares of the company's stock, valued at $5,469,093. The trade was a 5.25 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 280,579 shares of company stock worth $589,216 in the last 90 days. Insiders own 4.10% of the company's stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Akebia Therapeutics

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Barclays PLC increased its position in shares of Akebia Therapeutics by 276.1% in the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 273,085 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock valued at $360,000 after acquiring an additional 200,482 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its position in Akebia Therapeutics by 24.1% in 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 in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position 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 purchasing an additional 40,631 shares during the period. Rhumbline Advisers grew its holdings in shares of Akebia Therapeutics by 9.3% in the fourth quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 265,389 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock worth $504,000 after acquiring an additional 22,513 shares during the period. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Akebia Therapeutics by 8.1% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 10,884,200 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock worth $20,680,000 after purchasing an additional 813,902 shares during the period. 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.