Akebia Therapeutics (NASDAQ:AKBA) Stock Rating Lowered by Zacks Research

Akebia Therapeutics (NASDAQ:AKBA) was downgraded by stock analysts at Zacks Research from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research note issued on Wednesday,Zacks.com reports.

AKBA has been the subject of a number of other reports. BTIG Research reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $4.00 price target on shares of Akebia Therapeutics in a report on Tuesday, April 7th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Akebia Therapeutics in a report on Wednesday, January 21st. Piper Sandler cut their price objective on shares of Akebia Therapeutics from $6.00 to $4.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, February 6th. HC Wainwright reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $6.00 price objective on shares of Akebia Therapeutics in a research report on Friday, February 6th. Finally, Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Akebia Therapeutics from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, February 28th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $4.67.

Akebia Therapeutics Stock Performance

Shares of AKBA opened at $1.18 on Wednesday. The company has a current ratio of 1.55, a quick ratio of 1.46 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.48. The stock has a market cap of $316.54 million, a P/E ratio of -58.97 and a beta of 0.35. The company has a 50-day moving average of $1.38 and a two-hundred day moving average of $1.57. Akebia Therapeutics has a 12-month low of $1.13 and a 12-month high of $4.08.

Akebia Therapeutics (NASDAQ:AKBA) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 7th. The biopharmaceutical company reported ($0.03) earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.01) by ($0.02). Akebia Therapeutics had a negative return on equity of 16.70% and a negative net margin of 2.26%.The company had revenue of $53.54 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $51.67 million. As a group, research analysts predict that Akebia Therapeutics will post 0.03 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Akebia Therapeutics news, CEO John P. Butler bought 69,270 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 4th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $1.25 per share, for a total transaction of $86,587.50. Following the completion of the purchase, the chief executive officer owned 3,367,064 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,208,830. This trade represents a 2.10% increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Insiders own 3.00% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Akebia Therapeutics

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Nordea Investment Management AB acquired a new position in Akebia Therapeutics in the fourth quarter valued at $1,215,000. Citigroup Inc. increased its position in Akebia Therapeutics by 1,324.7% during the third quarter. Citigroup Inc. now owns 1,916,692 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $5,233,000 after purchasing an additional 1,782,162 shares during the last quarter. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. acquired a new position in Akebia Therapeutics during the fourth quarter worth approximately $803,000. Rafferty Asset Management LLC increased its position in Akebia Therapeutics by 89.7% during the third quarter. Rafferty Asset Management LLC now owns 481,869 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $1,316,000 after purchasing an additional 227,915 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Empirical Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in Akebia Therapeutics during the third quarter worth approximately $55,000. 33.92% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Akebia Therapeutics Company Profile

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.