Wellington Management Group LLP Raises Holdings in Akebia Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:AKBA)

Wellington Management Group LLP increased its stake in Akebia Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:AKBA - Free Report) by 24.1% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 502,127 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock after buying an additional 97,409 shares during the quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP owned approximately 0.21% of Akebia Therapeutics worth $954,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in Akebia Therapeutics in the fourth quarter valued at $26,000. Mariner LLC bought a new stake in shares of Akebia Therapeutics during the 4th quarter worth about $28,000. PDS Planning Inc acquired a new position in Akebia Therapeutics in the 4th quarter valued at $28,000. Cibc World Markets Corp acquired a new stake in shares of Akebia Therapeutics during the fourth quarter worth $37,000. Finally, Aquatic Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Akebia Therapeutics during the fourth quarter worth $47,000. 33.92% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Akebia Therapeutics Trading Up 2.3%

NASDAQ:AKBA traded up $0.09 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, hitting $3.92. 11,055,697 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,144,146. Akebia Therapeutics, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $0.80 and a fifty-two week high of $4.08. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $2.52 and a 200-day simple moving average of $2.18. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.03 billion, a P/E 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 for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.03) by $0.06. The business had revenue of $57.34 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $44.88 million. As a group, analysts expect that Akebia Therapeutics, Inc. will post -0.3 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CAO Richard C. Malabre sold 13,334 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, June 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $3.53, for a total transaction of $47,069.02. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 266,914 shares in the company, valued at approximately $942,206.42. This trade represents a 4.76% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. 3.00% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have issued reports on the stock. Piper Sandler increased their target price on shares of Akebia Therapeutics from $4.00 to $6.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, March 14th. Leerink Partnrs upgraded Akebia Therapeutics to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Monday, April 28th. Wall Street Zen raised Akebia Therapeutics from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Saturday, May 3rd. 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 price objective on the stock. Finally, Leerink Partners initiated coverage on Akebia Therapeutics in a research report on Monday, April 28th. They issued an "outperform" rating and a $7.00 target price on the stock. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, four have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Buy" and an average target price of $6.75.

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.