Sei Investments Co. Buys Shares of 175,045 Akebia Therapeutics, Inc. $AKBA

Key Points

• Sei Investments Co. invested approximately $336,000 in Akebia Therapeutics, acquiring 175,045 shares and owning about 0.07% of the company as of the latest quarter.
• Multiple institutional investors, including Bank of America and Deutsche Bank, significantly increased their stakes in Akebia Therapeutics during the fourth quarter.
• Wall Street analysts have given Akebia Therapeutics a consensus rating of "Buy" with an average price target of $6.75.

Sei Investments Co. purchased a new position in Akebia Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:AKBA - Free Report) during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor purchased 175,045 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock, valued at approximately $336,000. Sei Investments Co. owned 0.07% of Akebia Therapeutics as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Mariner LLC purchased a new stake in Akebia Therapeutics in the fourth quarter worth $28,000. Unified Investment Management grew its stake in Akebia Therapeutics by 47.8% in the first quarter. Unified Investment Management now owns 17,000 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock worth $33,000 after purchasing an additional 5,500 shares during the period. E Fund Management Co. Ltd. grew its stake in Akebia Therapeutics by 51.9% in the first quarter. E Fund Management Co. Ltd. now owns 19,311 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock worth $37,000 after purchasing an additional 6,595 shares during the period. Aquatic Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Akebia Therapeutics in the fourth quarter worth $47,000. Finally, New York State Common Retirement Fund grew its stake in shares of Akebia Therapeutics by 207.2% in the first quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund now owns 38,400 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock worth $74,000 after acquiring an additional 25,900 shares during the last quarter. 33.92% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Akebia Therapeutics Trading Up 1.8%

Shares of Akebia Therapeutics stock traded up $0.0550 on Thursday, reaching $3.1750. The company had a trading volume of 943,339 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,147,810. The firm has a market cap of $841.82 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -18.68 and a beta of 0.96. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.61, a current ratio of 1.98 and a quick ratio of 1.84. The firm's 50-day moving average price is $3.62 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $2.75. Akebia Therapeutics, Inc. has a 1 year low of $1.24 and a 1 year high of $4.08.

Analyst Ratings Changes

AKBA has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Leerink Partnrs raised Akebia Therapeutics to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Monday, April 28th. Leerink Partners initiated coverage on Akebia Therapeutics in a research note on Monday, April 28th. They issued an "outperform" rating and a $7.00 target price on the stock. Wall Street Zen raised Akebia Therapeutics from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Saturday, May 3rd. HC Wainwright began coverage on Akebia Therapeutics in a research note on Wednesday, June 4th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $8.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Zacks Research downgraded Akebia Therapeutics from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Wednesday, August 13th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have given a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and an average target price of $6.75.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Akebia Therapeutics news, CAO Richard C. Malabre sold 15,000 shares of Akebia Therapeutics stock in a transaction on Monday, June 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $4.01, for a total transaction of $60,150.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer directly owned 266,914 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,070,325.14. The trade was a 5.32% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, 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 sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 503,586 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $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 a total of 69,648 shares of company stock valued at $258,841 over the last three months. 3.00% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.