Akebia Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:AKBA) Receives $5.60 Consensus Price Target from Brokerages

Akebia Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:AKBA) has received a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” from the seven analysts that are covering the firm, Marketbeat reports. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has issued a hold rating, four have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. The average 12-month price objective among analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $5.40.

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on AKBA shares. HC Wainwright reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $6.00 target price on shares of Akebia Therapeutics in a research report on Friday, February 6th. BTIG Research reduced their price target on shares of Akebia Therapeutics from $5.00 to $4.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Akebia Therapeutics from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, November 28th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Akebia Therapeutics in a report on Wednesday, January 21st. Finally, Piper Sandler decreased their price target on Akebia Therapeutics from $6.00 to $4.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, February 6th.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CAO Richard C. Malabre sold 49,524 shares of Akebia Therapeutics stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $1.39, for a total transaction of $68,838.36. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer directly owned 299,390 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $416,152.10. The trade was a 14.19% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 3.00% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Akebia Therapeutics

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in AKBA. State of Alaska Department of Revenue acquired a new stake in Akebia Therapeutics during the third quarter valued at approximately $42,000. Cibc World Markets Corp bought a new position in shares of Akebia Therapeutics in the fourth quarter valued at $27,000. Brevan Howard Capital Management LP acquired a new stake in shares of Akebia Therapeutics during the 2nd quarter valued at $62,000. Unified Investment Management bought a new stake in shares of Akebia Therapeutics during the 3rd quarter worth $49,000. Finally, Polymer Capital Management US LLC boosted its stake in shares of Akebia Therapeutics by 49.5% during the 3rd quarter. Polymer Capital Management US LLC now owns 18,232 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $50,000 after acquiring an additional 6,034 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 33.92% of the company’s stock.

Akebia Therapeutics Stock Up 9.1%

AKBA opened at $1.32 on Tuesday. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $1.43 and its 200 day moving average price is $2.12. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.15, a current ratio of 1.94 and a quick ratio of 1.80. The stock has a market cap of $350.29 million, a P/E ratio of -18.85 and a beta of 0.38. Akebia Therapeutics has a 12 month low of $1.14 and a 12 month high of $4.08.

Akebia Therapeutics (NASDAQ:AKBA) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 26th. The biopharmaceutical company reported ($0.05) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.03) by ($0.02). The business had revenue of $57.62 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $48.37 million. Akebia Therapeutics had a negative return on equity of 137.67% and a negative net margin of 7.07%. As a group, research analysts predict that Akebia Therapeutics will post -0.3 earnings per share for the current year.

Key Stories Impacting Akebia Therapeutics

Here are the key news stories impacting Akebia Therapeutics this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Quarterly and annual revenue beat — Q4 revenue came in at $57.6M (above consensus ~$48.4M) and full‑year 2025 net product revenues were $227.3M (up ~49% Y/Y), providing near-term commercial momentum. GlobeNewswire: Q4 & FY2025 Results
• Positive Sentiment: Commercial outlook for Vafseo improved — company expects significant revenue growth in 2026 driven by expanded access at dialysis organizations, new patient starts and better adherence, which supports near‑term top‑line momentum. GlobeNewswire: Commercial Guidance
• Positive Sentiment: Pipeline progress — enrollment underway for praliciguat Phase 2 in FSGS and a planned AKB‑097 Phase 2 rare kidney disease basket trial targeted for 2H‑2026, adding longer‑term upside. GlobeNewswire: Pipeline Highlights
• Positive Sentiment: Short interest declined in mid‑February (reported down ~15.5% from late January), which may reduce some near‑term downside pressure from short covering dynamics.
• Neutral Sentiment: Analyst adjustment: BTIG lowered its price target from $5.00 to $4.00 but maintained a “buy” rating — a mixed signal (reduced upside but continued analyst conviction). TickerReport: BTIG Note
• Neutral Sentiment: Management hosted an earnings call and released a transcript/highlights summarizing results and execution plans; useful for detail but reiterative of the items above. Yahoo: Earnings Call Transcript
• Negative Sentiment: EPS miss and profitability metrics remain weak — reported EPS of ($0.05) missed consensus (~($0.03)) and the company reported a negative net margin and very negative ROE, highlighting ongoing profitability challenges. MarketBeat: Earnings Summary
• Negative Sentiment: Short interest remains material — even after the decline, ~12.1% of shares were reported short at mid‑February with a multi‑day days‑to‑cover, which can magnify volatility and pressure if sentiment weakens.

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.