Monashee Investment Management LLC Purchases New Shares in Akebia Therapeutics, Inc. $AKBA

Key Points

• Monashee Investment Management LLC acquired 1,500,000 shares of Akebia Therapeutics, valued at approximately $2.88 million, representing roughly 0.57% ownership in the company.
• Several large investors, including Bank of America Corp and Deutsche Bank AG, increased their stakes in Akebia during the fourth quarter, highlighting growing institutional interest.
• Analyst ratings for Akebia fluctuate, with one firm recently downgrading the stock from "strong-buy" to "hold," while others maintain a consensus "buy" rating with an average target price of $6.75.

Monashee Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in Akebia Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:AKBA - Free Report) in the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 1,500,000 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock, valued at approximately $2,880,000. Monashee Investment Management LLC owned about 0.57% of Akebia Therapeutics at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in AKBA. Bank of America Corp DE raised its stake 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 during the period. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. raised its stake 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 during the period. Deutsche Bank AG raised its stake 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 during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Akebia Therapeutics by 0.9% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 4,795,095 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock worth $9,112,000 after purchasing an additional 40,631 shares during the period. Finally, Barclays PLC raised its stake in shares of Akebia Therapeutics by 37.5% during the 4th quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 375,495 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock worth $713,000 after purchasing an additional 102,410 shares during the period. 33.92% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have recently commented on AKBA. Zacks Research cut Akebia Therapeutics from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 13th. HC Wainwright assumed coverage on Akebia Therapeutics in a report on Wednesday, June 4th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $8.00 price objective for the company. Wall Street Zen raised Akebia Therapeutics from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Saturday, May 3rd. Leerink Partners assumed coverage on Akebia Therapeutics in a report on Monday, April 28th. They issued an "outperform" rating and a $7.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Leerink Partnrs upgraded Akebia Therapeutics to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Monday, April 28th. 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. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Buy" and an average target price of $6.75.

Akebia Therapeutics Stock Performance

NASDAQ:AKBA opened at $3.12 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $827.24 million, a PE ratio of -18.35 and a beta of 0.96. Akebia Therapeutics, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $1.24 and a fifty-two week high of $4.08. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.61, a quick ratio of 1.84 and a current ratio of 1.98. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $3.62 and a 200-day moving average price of $2.75.

Insider Activity at Akebia Therapeutics

In related news, CAO Richard C. Malabre sold 15,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Monday, June 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $4.01, for a total value of $60,150.00. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer directly owned 266,914 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,070,325.14. This represents a 5.32% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CFO Erik Ostrowski sold 41,314 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Monday, June 30th. The stock was 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 $1,848,160.62. This trade represents a 7.58% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 69,648 shares of company stock worth $258,841 over the last three months. Insiders own 3.00% of the company's stock.

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.

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