Short Interest in Akebia Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:AKBA) Expands By 32.3%

Akebia Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:AKBA - Get Free Report) was the recipient of a large increase in short interest during the month of March. As of March 31st, there was short interest totalling 13,400,000 shares, an increase of 32.3% from the March 15th total of 10,130,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 4,530,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 3.0 days.

Insider Activity at Akebia Therapeutics

In related news, SVP Steven Keith Burke sold 24,311 shares of Akebia Therapeutics stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $1.68, for a total value of $40,842.48. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 711,376 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,195,111.68. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In other Akebia Therapeutics news, SVP Steven Keith Burke sold 24,311 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $1.68, for a total transaction of $40,842.48. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 711,376 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,195,111.68. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO John P. Butler sold 37,733 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $1.52, for a total transaction of $57,354.16. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 2,091,150 shares in the company, valued at $3,178,548. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 187,893 shares of company stock worth $300,598 in the last ninety days. 3.84% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Citigroup Inc. increased its position in shares of Akebia Therapeutics by 311,608.2% in the third quarter. Citigroup Inc. now owns 152,737 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock worth $174,000 after acquiring an additional 152,688 shares in the last quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Akebia Therapeutics by 14.1% in the third quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 755,488 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock worth $861,000 after acquiring an additional 93,590 shares in the last quarter. State of Wyoming purchased a new position in shares of Akebia Therapeutics in the second quarter worth approximately $44,000. Mirabella Financial Services LLP purchased a new position in shares of Akebia Therapeutics in the first quarter worth approximately $40,000. Finally, HighTower Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Akebia Therapeutics by 18.4% in the first quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 70,350 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock worth $40,000 after acquiring an additional 10,925 shares in the last quarter. 33.92% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Akebia Therapeutics Trading Down 4.6 %

Shares of NASDAQ AKBA traded down $0.07 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $1.46. The company's stock had a trading volume of 4,105,836 shares, compared to its average volume of 9,717,349. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $1.62 and a 200 day moving average price of $1.32. Akebia Therapeutics has a one year low of $0.59 and a one year high of $2.48. The company has a market cap of $305.68 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -5.21 and a beta of 0.79.

Akebia Therapeutics (NASDAQ:AKBA - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, March 14th. The biopharmaceutical company reported ($0.04) EPS for the quarter, hitting analysts' consensus estimates of ($0.04). The business had revenue of $56.20 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $55.64 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned ($0.04) earnings per share. Research analysts anticipate that Akebia Therapeutics will post -0.28 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

AKBA has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. HC Wainwright boosted their price target on shares of Akebia Therapeutics from $5.00 to $6.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, March 28th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Akebia Therapeutics from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday.

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.