Akebia Therapeutics (NASDAQ:AKBA) Stock Price Passes Above Fifty Day Moving Average - Should You Sell?

Akebia Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:AKBA - Get Free Report) shares passed above its fifty day moving average during trading on Monday . The stock has a fifty day moving average of $3.45 and traded as high as $3.94. Akebia Therapeutics shares last traded at $3.84, with a volume of 2,554,764 shares traded.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have recently commented on AKBA shares. Wall Street Zen raised Akebia Therapeutics from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Saturday, May 3rd. Leerink Partnrs upgraded shares of Akebia Therapeutics to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Monday, April 28th. HC Wainwright assumed coverage on shares of Akebia Therapeutics in a research report on Wednesday, June 4th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $8.00 price target for the company. Jefferies Financial Group initiated coverage on shares of Akebia Therapeutics in a research note on Tuesday, April 1st. They set a "buy" rating and a $6.00 price target for the company. Finally, 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 on the stock. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, four have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Buy" and a consensus target price of $6.75.

Akebia Therapeutics Price Performance

The firm has a market cap of $1.02 billion, a P/E ratio of -18.50 and a beta of 0.88. The company has a quick ratio of 2.02, a current ratio of 2.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.89. The business's 50 day moving average is $3.51 and its two-hundred day moving average is $2.56.

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 analysts' consensus estimates of ($0.03) by $0.06. The business had revenue of $57.34 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $44.88 million. As a group, analysts anticipate that Akebia Therapeutics, Inc. will post -0.3 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Akebia Therapeutics

In other news, CFO Erik Ostrowski sold 41,314 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $3.67, for a total value of $151,622.38. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 503,586 shares in the company, valued at $1,848,160.62. This trade represents a 7.58% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CAO Richard C. Malabre sold 15,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $4.01, for a total value of $60,150.00. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer directly owned 266,914 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,070,325.14. This trade represents a 5.32% decrease in their ownership of the stock. 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. Insiders own 3.00% of the company's stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in AKBA. Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Akebia Therapeutics by 5.9% in the fourth quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 497,547 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock valued at $945,000 after purchasing an additional 27,839 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its holdings 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. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new position in shares of Akebia Therapeutics during the fourth quarter valued at about $85,000. Cibc World Markets Corp bought a new stake in Akebia Therapeutics in the 4th quarter worth about $37,000. Finally, Intech Investment Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Akebia Therapeutics by 162.3% during the 4th quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 118,209 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock worth $225,000 after buying an additional 73,143 shares in the last quarter. 33.92% of the stock is owned by 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.