Akebia Therapeutics (NASDAQ:AKBA) Upgraded by StockNews.com to Buy

Akebia Therapeutics (NASDAQ:AKBA) was upgraded by equities research analysts at StockNews.com from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a note issued to investors on Wednesday.

Separately, HC Wainwright upped their target price on Akebia Therapeutics from $5.00 to $6.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, March 28th.

Akebia Therapeutics Stock Down 3.1 %

AKBA stock opened at $1.58 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $330.80 million, a P/E ratio of -5.64 and a beta of 0.79. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $1.64 and a 200 day simple moving average of $1.30. Akebia Therapeutics has a fifty-two week low of $0.49 and a fifty-two week high of $2.48.

Akebia Therapeutics (NASDAQ:AKBA) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, March 14th. The biopharmaceutical company reported ($0.04) EPS for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate 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 last year, the firm posted ($0.04) earnings per share. Equities analysts anticipate that Akebia Therapeutics will post -0.27 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity at Akebia Therapeutics

In related news, CEO John P. Butler sold 37,733 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $1.52, for a total value of $57,354.16. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2,091,150 shares in the company, valued at $3,178,548. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other Akebia Therapeutics news, CEO John P. Butler sold 46,570 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $1.58, for a total transaction of $73,580.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2,044,580 shares in the company, valued at $3,230,436.40. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO John P. Butler sold 37,733 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $1.52, for a total value of $57,354.16. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 2,091,150 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,178,548. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 187,893 shares of company stock worth $300,598. 3.84% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Akebia Therapeutics

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Swiss National Bank boosted its holdings in Akebia Therapeutics by 7.8% in the first quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 393,085 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $282,000 after acquiring an additional 28,300 shares during the last quarter. MetLife Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in Akebia Therapeutics by 176.6% in the first quarter. MetLife Investment Management LLC now owns 85,186 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $61,000 after acquiring an additional 54,389 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its holdings in Akebia Therapeutics by 2.8% in the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,666,861 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $1,915,000 after acquiring an additional 73,020 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Akebia Therapeutics by 8.8% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 14,402,988 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $10,339,000 after acquiring an additional 1,167,319 shares during the last quarter. Finally, XTX Topco Ltd boosted its holdings in Akebia Therapeutics by 282.7% in the first quarter. XTX Topco Ltd now owns 102,392 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $74,000 after acquiring an additional 75,635 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 33.92% of the company’s stock.

About Akebia Therapeutics

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 adult patients.