Nantahala Capital Management LLC Takes Position in Akebia Therapeutics, Inc. $AKBA

Key Points

• Nantahala Capital Management acquired 2 million Akebia Therapeutics shares worth approximately $2.28 million, giving it a 0.72% stake. Institutional investors and hedge funds collectively own 33.92% of AKBA.
• Analyst sentiment is mixed: three analysts rate the stock Buy, two Hold, and one Sell, resulting in a consensus rating of Hold and an average price target of $3.75.
• Akebia reported a quarterly loss of $0.02 per share, beating estimates for a $0.04 loss, while revenue of $49.13 million slightly exceeded forecasts. Shares opened at $0.88, near the company’s 52-week low of $0.81.

Nantahala Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in Akebia Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:AKBA - Free Report) in the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm bought 2,000,000 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock, valued at approximately $2,280,000. Nantahala Capital Management LLC owned 0.72% of Akebia Therapeutics at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of AKBA. BlackRock Inc. acquired a new stake in Akebia Therapeutics in the 2nd quarter valued at about $22,784,000. UBS Group AG boosted its stake in shares of Akebia Therapeutics by 470.2% in the 3rd quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 3,646,233 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock valued at $9,954,000 after buying an additional 3,006,771 shares during the period. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Akebia Therapeutics by 166.2% during the fourth quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 4,706,437 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock worth $7,577,000 after buying an additional 2,938,624 shares in the last quarter. MPM Bioimpact LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Akebia Therapeutics during the second quarter worth approximately $10,516,000. Finally, Invesco Ltd. increased its stake in shares of Akebia Therapeutics by 528.1% during the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 2,400,757 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock worth $6,554,000 after buying an additional 2,018,547 shares during the period. 33.92% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling at Akebia Therapeutics

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

AKBA has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. HC Wainwright reiterated a "buy" rating on shares of Akebia Therapeutics in a research note on Thursday, August 6th. Leerink Partners downgraded shares of Akebia Therapeutics from an "outperform" rating to a "market perform" rating and set a $1.00 price objective on the stock. in a research report on Friday, August 7th. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Akebia Therapeutics from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a report on Saturday, May 9th. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Akebia Therapeutics from a "sell (e+)" rating to a "sell (d-)" rating in a research report on Monday, August 17th. Finally, Zacks Research upgraded shares of Akebia Therapeutics from a "strong sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 7th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Akebia Therapeutics presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $3.75.

Akebia Therapeutics Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ AKBA opened at $0.88 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.99, a quick ratio of 1.35 and a current ratio of 1.43. Akebia Therapeutics, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $0.81 and a fifty-two week high of $3.22. The firm has a market capitalization of $243.47 million, a PE ratio of -7.99 and a beta of 0.26. The stock's 50-day simple moving average is $1.14 and its 200-day simple moving average is $1.21.

Akebia Therapeutics (NASDAQ:AKBA - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 5th. The biopharmaceutical company reported ($0.02) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of ($0.04) by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $49.13 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $48.85 million. Akebia Therapeutics had a negative return on equity of 88.88% and a negative net margin of 13.54%. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Akebia Therapeutics, Inc. will post -0.14 EPS for the current fiscal 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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