Akebia Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:AKBA) Receives Consensus Rating of “Hold” from Brokerages

Shares of Akebia Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:AKBA) have earned a consensus recommendation of “Hold” from the six ratings firms that are currently covering the firm, Marketbeat.com reports. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company. The average 1-year price objective among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $3.75.

A number of research firms recently issued reports on AKBA. Leerink Partners downgraded shares of Akebia Therapeutics from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and set a $1.00 price objective for the company. in a report on Friday, August 7th. HC Wainwright reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Akebia Therapeutics in a research report on Thursday, August 6th. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Akebia Therapeutics from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Saturday, May 9th. Zacks Research upgraded Akebia Therapeutics from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 7th. Finally, Weiss Ratings raised Akebia Therapeutics from a “sell (e+)” rating to a “sell (d-)” rating in a report on Monday, August 17th.

Akebia Therapeutics Stock Performance

Shares of AKBA opened at $0.90 on Tuesday. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $1.15 and a 200 day moving average of $1.22. The company has a market capitalization of $249.57 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -8.19 and a beta of 0.26. Akebia Therapeutics has a 12 month low of $0.81 and a 12 month high of $3.22. The company has a current ratio of 1.43, a quick ratio of 1.35 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.99.

Akebia Therapeutics (NASDAQ:AKBA) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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, sell-side analysts forecast that Akebia Therapeutics will post -0.14 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Akebia Therapeutics

In other news, CFO Erik Ostrowski sold 56,019 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, June 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $1.11, for a total transaction 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 transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Insiders own 4.30% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Akebia Therapeutics

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. purchased a new stake in shares of Akebia Therapeutics during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Hsbc Holdings PLC bought a new stake in Akebia Therapeutics during the 2nd quarter valued at $27,000. Cibc World Markets Corp purchased a new stake in shares of Akebia Therapeutics during the fourth quarter worth $27,000. Legal & General Group Plc purchased a new stake in shares of Akebia Therapeutics during the second quarter worth $30,000. Finally, Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd boosted its holdings in shares of Akebia Therapeutics by 697.8% in the fourth quarter. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd now owns 20,622 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $33,000 after acquiring an additional 18,037 shares during the period. 33.92% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Akebia Therapeutics

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.