Akebia Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:AKBA) Given Average Recommendation of "Hold" by Brokerages

Key Points

• Analysts have a consensus “Hold” rating on Akebia Therapeutics, with four buys, two holds and one sell among seven firms. The average 12-month price target is $3.90, although recent targets range from $1.00 to $4.50.
• AKBA opened at $0.95, near its 12-month low of $0.81 and below its 50-day and 200-day moving averages. The company reported quarterly EPS of negative $0.02, beating estimates of negative $0.04, while revenue of $49.13 million slightly exceeded expectations.
• Institutional investors own 33.92% of the stock, with major holders including Vanguard, State Street and BlackRock. CFO Erik Ostrowski sold 56,019 shares to cover tax obligations, reducing his position by 8.33%.

Akebia Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:AKBA - Get Free Report) has been given an average rating of "Hold" by the seven research firms that are covering the stock, MarketBeat reports. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, two have issued a hold recommendation and four have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average 1 year price target among analysts that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $3.90.

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on AKBA. HC Wainwright restated a "buy" rating on shares of Akebia Therapeutics in a research report on Thursday, August 6th. Weiss Ratings lowered Akebia Therapeutics from a "sell (d-)" rating to a "sell (e+)" rating in a research note on Monday, August 31st. Wall Street Zen upgraded Akebia Therapeutics from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Saturday. Westpark Capital started coverage on Akebia Therapeutics in a research note on Tuesday. They issued a "buy" rating and a $4.50 target price for the company. Finally, Leerink Partners lowered Akebia Therapeutics from an "outperform" rating to a "market perform" rating and set a $1.00 price target on the stock. in a report on Friday, August 7th.

Insider Transactions at Akebia Therapeutics

In related news, CFO Erik Ostrowski sold 56,019 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $1.11, for a total transaction of $62,181.09. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 616,616 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $684,443.76. This represents a 8.33% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. 4.30% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Akebia Therapeutics

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. BlackRock Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Akebia Therapeutics in the 2nd quarter valued at about $22,784,000. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in Akebia Therapeutics by 6.4% in the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 15,547,508 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock valued at $42,445,000 after acquiring an additional 936,042 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp raised its holdings in Akebia Therapeutics by 15.6% in the fourth quarter. State Street Corp now owns 13,687,561 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock valued at $22,037,000 after acquiring an additional 1,842,792 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in Akebia Therapeutics by 1.5% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 6,277,177 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock worth $10,108,000 after acquiring an additional 92,226 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. lifted its stake in Akebia Therapeutics by 166.2% in the fourth quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 4,706,437 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock worth $7,577,000 after acquiring an additional 2,938,624 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 33.92% of the company's stock.

Akebia Therapeutics Stock Performance

AKBA opened at $0.95 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.43, a quick ratio of 1.35 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.99. Akebia Therapeutics has a 12-month low of $0.81 and a 12-month high of $3.20. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $1.11 and a two-hundred day moving average of $1.19. The firm has a market capitalization of $263.73 million, a PE ratio of -8.65 and a beta of 0.19.

Akebia Therapeutics (NASDAQ:AKBA - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 5th. The biopharmaceutical company reported ($0.02) earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of ($0.04) by $0.02. The business had revenue of $49.13 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $48.85 million. Akebia Therapeutics had a negative return on equity of 88.88% and a negative net margin of 13.54%. On average, analysts anticipate that Akebia Therapeutics will post -0.14 EPS for the current year.

Akebia Therapeutics Company Profile

Akebia Therapeutics, Inc, a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company headquartered in Cambridge, Massachusetts, is focused on the development and commercialization of therapies for patients with kidney disease. The company's lead product candidate, vadadustat, is an investigational oral hypoxia-inducible factor prolyl hydroxylase inhibitor designed to treat anemia associated with chronic kidney disease in both dialysis-dependent and non-dialysis patients. Akebia's research and development efforts also extend to preclinical programs targeting nephrology and related metabolic disorders.

Since its founding in 2007, Akebia has pursued strategic collaborations to advance its clinical pipeline and expand its market reach.

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