Akebia Therapeutics (NASDAQ:AKBA) Stock Crosses Above 50 Day Moving Average - Here's What Happened

Akebia Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:AKBA - Get Free Report)'s share price 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 changing hands.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts recently weighed in on the stock. HC Wainwright assumed coverage on shares of Akebia Therapeutics in a report on Wednesday, June 4th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $8.00 target price for the company. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Akebia Therapeutics from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Saturday, May 3rd. Leerink Partners began coverage on shares of Akebia Therapeutics in a research note on Monday, April 28th. They issued an "outperform" rating and a $7.00 price target for the company. Jefferies Financial Group began coverage on shares of 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, Leerink Partnrs upgraded shares of Akebia Therapeutics to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Monday, April 28th. One equities 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 stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Buy" and a consensus target price of $6.75.

Akebia Therapeutics Trading Down 7.4%

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 stock has a market capitalization of $933.67 million, a PE ratio of -16.93 and a beta of 0.88. The business's 50-day moving average is $3.53 and its two-hundred day moving average is $2.58.

Akebia Therapeutics (NASDAQ:AKBA - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 8th. The biopharmaceutical company reported $0.03 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. On average, analysts anticipate 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 company's stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $4.01, for a total transaction 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 represents a 5.32% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CFO Erik Ostrowski sold 41,314 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $3.67, for a total transaction 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 69,648 shares of company stock worth $258,841 over the last 90 days. 3.00% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Akebia Therapeutics

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. PDS Planning Inc grew its stake in shares of Akebia Therapeutics by 11.1% during the second quarter. PDS Planning Inc now owns 50,000 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock valued at $182,000 after acquiring an additional 5,000 shares in the last quarter. Abel Hall LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Akebia Therapeutics during the second quarter valued at about $39,000. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio acquired a new stake in shares of Akebia Therapeutics during the second quarter valued at about $99,000. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Akebia Therapeutics during the second quarter valued at about $59,000. Finally, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. grew its stake 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 in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 33.92% of the company's stock.

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.