Akebia Therapeutics (NASDAQ:AKBA) Cut to Sell at StockNews.com

StockNews.com lowered shares of Akebia Therapeutics (NASDAQ:AKBA) from a hold rating to a sell rating in a research note issued to investors on Monday.

Separately, HC Wainwright restated a “buy” rating and set a $7.50 target price on shares of Akebia Therapeutics in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd.

Akebia Therapeutics Stock Up 2.7 %

Shares of AKBA stock opened at $1.90 on Monday. The company has a market capitalization of $414.54 million, a P/E ratio of -8.26 and a beta of 0.70. Akebia Therapeutics has a 12-month low of $0.80 and a 12-month high of $2.48. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $1.88 and a 200 day moving average price of $1.50.

Akebia Therapeutics (NASDAQ:AKBA) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, November 7th. The biopharmaceutical company reported ($0.10) EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.04) by ($0.06). The firm had revenue of $37.43 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $45.66 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned ($0.08) earnings per share. As a group, research analysts expect that Akebia Therapeutics will post -0.24 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Trading of Akebia Therapeutics

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV raised its position in Akebia Therapeutics by 40.7% in the 2nd quarter. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV now owns 31,221 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $32,000 after purchasing an additional 9,037 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its stake in shares of Akebia Therapeutics by 10.9% in the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 98,546 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $130,000 after buying an additional 9,662 shares during the period. MetLife Investment Management LLC raised its position in shares of Akebia Therapeutics by 25.7% during the third quarter. MetLife Investment Management LLC now owns 68,064 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $90,000 after acquiring an additional 13,907 shares during the last quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets lifted its stake in shares of Akebia Therapeutics by 205.8% during the third quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 46,270 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $61,000 after acquiring an additional 31,137 shares during the period. Finally, Empirical Asset Management LLC bought a new position in Akebia Therapeutics in the third quarter valued at about $44,000. 33.92% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.