Akebia Therapeutics (NASDAQ:AKBA) Stock Price Crosses Below 200 Day Moving Average – Time to Sell?

Akebia Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:AKBA)’s stock price crossed below its 200-day moving average during trading on Monday . The stock has a 200-day moving average of $1.95 and traded as low as $1.46. Akebia Therapeutics shares last traded at $1.51, with a volume of 2,976,098 shares.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have weighed in on AKBA. Zacks Research cut Akebia Therapeutics from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 26th. Piper Sandler lowered their price target on shares of Akebia Therapeutics from $6.00 to $4.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, February 6th. HC Wainwright reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $6.00 price objective on shares of Akebia Therapeutics in a research note on Friday, February 6th. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Akebia Therapeutics from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, February 28th. Finally, Weiss Ratings restated a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Akebia Therapeutics in a research report on Wednesday, January 21st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have issued a Buy rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $5.40.

Akebia Therapeutics Trading Down 3.4%

The stock has a market capitalization of $385.75 million, a P/E ratio of -71.96 and a beta of 0.39. 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 business has a 50-day moving average price of $1.36 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $1.94.

Akebia Therapeutics (NASDAQ:AKBA) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 26th. The biopharmaceutical company reported ($0.05) EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.03) by ($0.02). Akebia Therapeutics had a negative net margin of 2.26% and a negative return on equity of 16.70%. The company had revenue of $57.62 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $48.37 million. On average, analysts expect that Akebia Therapeutics, Inc. will post -0.3 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Akebia Therapeutics

In other news, CAO Richard C. Malabre sold 49,524 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $1.39, for a total value of $68,838.36. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer directly owned 299,390 shares in the company, valued at approximately $416,152.10. The trade was a 14.19% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO John P. Butler acquired 69,270 shares of the firm’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 directly owned 3,367,064 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,208,830. The trade was a 2.10% increase in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this purchase are available in the official SEC disclosure. 3.00% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of AKBA. UBS Group AG grew its holdings in shares of Akebia Therapeutics by 470.2% during the 3rd quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 3,646,233 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $9,954,000 after purchasing an additional 3,006,771 shares during the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. lifted its stake in Akebia Therapeutics by 166.2% in the 4th quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 4,706,437 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $7,577,000 after purchasing an additional 2,938,624 shares during the last quarter. MPM Bioimpact LLC bought a new position in Akebia Therapeutics in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $10,516,000. Invesco Ltd. boosted its position in Akebia Therapeutics by 528.1% in the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 2,400,757 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $6,554,000 after buying an additional 2,018,547 shares in the last quarter. Finally, State Street Corp boosted its position in Akebia Therapeutics by 15.6% in the fourth quarter. State Street Corp now owns 13,687,561 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $22,037,000 after buying an additional 1,842,792 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 33.92% of the company’s stock.

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.