Alyeska Investment Group L.P. Buys New Shares in Akebia Therapeutics, Inc. $AKBA

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. bought a new stake in Akebia Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:AKBA - Free Report) in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 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 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Akebia Therapeutics in the fourth quarter worth about $85,000. Mariner LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Akebia Therapeutics during the 4th quarter worth approximately $28,000. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP acquired a new stake in shares of Akebia Therapeutics during the 4th quarter worth approximately $239,000. Hsbc Holdings PLC grew its holdings in Akebia Therapeutics by 27.3% in the 4th quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 70,005 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock worth $131,000 after buying an additional 15,032 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its holdings in Akebia Therapeutics by 8.9% in the 4th quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 137,905 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock worth $263,000 after buying an additional 11,257 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 33.92% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

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

Akebia Therapeutics Trading Down 2.3%

Shares of AKBA traded down $0.07 during trading hours on Wednesday, reaching $2.93. The stock had a trading volume of 2,687,510 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,163,862. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $3.47 and a 200 day moving average of $2.85. The company has a market cap of $776.86 million, a P/E ratio of -17.23 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. Akebia Therapeutics, Inc. has a 52 week low of $1.24 and a 52 week high of $4.08.

Insider Transactions at Akebia Therapeutics

In related news, CFO Erik Ostrowski sold 41,314 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated 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 in the company, valued at approximately $1,848,160.62. This trade represents a 7.58% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Company insiders own 3.00% 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.