Akebia Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:AKBA) Shares Bought by Bank of America Corp DE

Bank of America Corp DE grew its stake in Akebia Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:AKBA - Free Report) by 117.9% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 543,916 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock after purchasing an additional 294,343 shares during the quarter. Bank of America Corp DE owned approximately 0.25% of Akebia Therapeutics worth $1,033,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of AKBA. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in Akebia Therapeutics in the fourth quarter valued at about $26,000. PDS Planning Inc bought a new stake in shares of Akebia Therapeutics in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Mariner LLC bought a new stake in shares of Akebia Therapeutics in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Cibc World Markets Corp acquired a new stake in shares of Akebia Therapeutics during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $37,000. Finally, Aquatic Capital Management LLC bought a new position in Akebia Therapeutics during the fourth quarter worth $47,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 33.92% of the company's stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CAO Richard C. Malabre sold 13,334 shares of Akebia Therapeutics stock in a transaction on Wednesday, June 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $3.53, for a total transaction of $47,069.02. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 266,914 shares in the company, valued at approximately $942,206.42. This trade represents a 4.76% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. 3.00% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have weighed in on AKBA. HC Wainwright assumed coverage on shares of Akebia Therapeutics in a research note on Wednesday, June 4th. They set a "buy" rating and a $8.00 target price for the company. Leerink Partnrs upgraded shares of Akebia Therapeutics to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Monday, April 28th. Jefferies Financial Group initiated coverage on Akebia Therapeutics in a research note on Tuesday, April 1st. They issued a "buy" rating and a $6.00 target price for the company. Wall Street Zen raised Akebia Therapeutics from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Saturday, May 3rd. Finally, Leerink Partners started coverage on Akebia Therapeutics in a report on Monday, April 28th. They issued an "outperform" rating and a $7.00 price target on the stock. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, four have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Buy" and a consensus target price of $6.75.

Akebia Therapeutics Stock Up 2.3%

NASDAQ AKBA traded up $0.09 on Tuesday, hitting $3.92. The stock had a trading volume of 11,055,697 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,144,146. The company's 50-day moving average is $2.52 and its two-hundred day moving average is $2.18. Akebia Therapeutics, Inc. has a one year low of $0.80 and a one year high of $4.08. The stock has a market cap of $1.03 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -17.04 and a beta of 0.85.

Akebia Therapeutics (NASDAQ:AKBA - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 8th. The biopharmaceutical company reported $0.03 earnings per share (EPS) 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 analyst estimates of $44.88 million. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Akebia Therapeutics, Inc. will post -0.3 earnings per share for the current year.

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.