134,277 Shares in Akebia Therapeutics, Inc. $AKBA Purchased by Alyeska Investment Group L.P.

Key Points

• Alyeska Investment Group L.P. has invested $258,000 in Akebia Therapeutics, acquiring 134,277 shares during the first quarter, which represents about 0.05% ownership of the company.
• Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in Akebia Therapeutics by 16.6%, now holding over 12.6 million shares, while several other hedge funds also established new positions in the company during the same period.
• Analysts gave Akebia Therapeutics a consensus rating of "Buy" with an average price target of $6.75, despite Zacks Research downgrading the stock from a "strong-buy" to a "hold" rating.

Alyeska Investment Group L.P. purchased a new stake in Akebia Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:AKBA - Free Report) during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 134,277 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock, valued at approximately $258,000. Alyeska Investment Group L.P. owned about 0.05% of Akebia Therapeutics as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Bank of America Corp DE grew its position in shares of Akebia Therapeutics by 117.9% during the 4th quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 543,916 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock worth $1,033,000 after purchasing an additional 294,343 shares in the last quarter. Monashee Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Akebia Therapeutics during the 1st quarter worth approximately $2,880,000. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. grew its position in shares of Akebia Therapeutics by 10.7% during the 4th quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 126,380 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock worth $240,000 after purchasing an additional 12,232 shares in the last quarter. Deutsche Bank AG grew its position in shares of Akebia Therapeutics by 64.0% during the 4th quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 181,048 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock worth $344,000 after purchasing an additional 70,663 shares in the last quarter. Finally, AIGH Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Akebia Therapeutics during the 1st quarter worth approximately $5,616,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 33.92% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have issued reports on AKBA. HC Wainwright began coverage on shares of Akebia Therapeutics in a research report on Wednesday, June 4th. They set a "buy" rating and a $8.00 target price on the stock. Zacks Research downgraded shares of Akebia Therapeutics from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Wednesday, August 13th. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised shares of Akebia Therapeutics from a "buy" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Friday, September 5th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have assigned a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and a consensus price target of $6.75.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Akebia Therapeutics news, CFO Erik Ostrowski sold 41,314 shares of Akebia Therapeutics stock in a transaction on Monday, June 30th. The shares were 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 of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,848,160.62. The trade was a 7.58% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Insiders own 3.00% of the company's stock.

Akebia Therapeutics Trading Down 1.3%

Shares of AKBA stock traded down $0.04 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $2.95. 2,253,913 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 3,812,911. Akebia Therapeutics, Inc. has a 12 month low of $1.24 and a 12 month high of $4.08. The stock's 50 day simple moving average is $3.43 and its 200 day simple moving average is $2.87. The stock has a market cap of $782.16 million, a PE ratio of -17.35 and a beta of 1.02. The company has a quick ratio of 1.84, a current ratio of 1.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.61.

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.