Akebia Therapeutics (NASDAQ:AKBA) Shares Down 3.7% After Insider Selling

Akebia Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:AKBA - Get Free Report)'s share price traded down 3.7% during trading on Wednesday following insider selling activity. The company traded as low as $3.75 and last traded at $3.78. 744,945 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 76% from the average session volume of 3,136,688 shares. The stock had previously closed at $3.92.

Specifically, CAO Richard C. Malabre sold 15,000 shares of the business'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 transaction of $60,150.00. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 266,914 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,070,325.14. The trade was a 5.32% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CAO Richard C. Malabre sold 13,334 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, June 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $3.53, for a total value of $47,069.02. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 266,914 shares in the company, valued at $942,206.42. The trade was a 4.76% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

AKBA has been the topic of several research reports. Piper Sandler upped their target price on Akebia Therapeutics from $4.00 to $6.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, March 14th. Jefferies Financial Group initiated coverage on Akebia Therapeutics in a research report on Tuesday, April 1st. They issued a "buy" rating and a $6.00 target price on the stock. Leerink Partners initiated coverage on Akebia Therapeutics in a research report on Monday, April 28th. They issued an "outperform" rating and a $7.00 target price on the stock. Wall Street Zen raised Akebia Therapeutics from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Saturday, May 3rd. Finally, Leerink Partnrs raised Akebia Therapeutics to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Monday, April 28th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, four have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and a consensus target price of $6.75.

Akebia Therapeutics Stock Down 2.5%

The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $2.63 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $2.21. The stock has a market capitalization of $934.98 million, a P/E ratio of -15.48 and a beta of 0.85.

Akebia Therapeutics (NASDAQ:AKBA - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, May 8th. The biopharmaceutical company reported $0.03 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.03) by $0.06. The business had revenue of $57.34 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $44.88 million. On average, research analysts predict that Akebia Therapeutics, Inc. will post -0.3 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Trading of Akebia Therapeutics

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Rhumbline Advisers grew its stake in shares of Akebia Therapeutics by 9.3% in the 4th quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 265,389 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock valued at $504,000 after buying an additional 22,513 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its stake in shares of Akebia Therapeutics by 5.9% in the 4th quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 497,547 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock valued at $945,000 after buying an additional 27,839 shares during the period. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Akebia Therapeutics in the 4th quarter valued at about $26,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of Akebia Therapeutics by 3.2% in the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 586,710 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock valued at $1,115,000 after buying an additional 18,043 shares during the period. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Akebia Therapeutics in the 4th quarter valued at about $85,000. 33.92% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.