Akebia Therapeutics (NASDAQ:AKBA) Cut to “Sell” at Wall Street Zen

Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Akebia Therapeutics (NASDAQ:AKBA) from a hold rating to a sell rating in a research note released on Saturday,Wall Street Zen reports.

A number of other analysts also recently issued reports on AKBA. Weiss Ratings downgraded shares of Akebia Therapeutics from a “sell (d-)” rating to a “sell (e+)” rating in a report on Friday, October 2nd. HC Wainwright reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Akebia Therapeutics in a report on Thursday, August 6th. BTIG Research reissued a “buy” rating and set a $4.00 price objective on shares of Akebia Therapeutics in a report on Tuesday, September 15th. Leerink Partners lowered Akebia Therapeutics from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and set a $1.00 price objective for the company. in a research report on Friday, August 7th. Finally, Zacks Research raised Akebia Therapeutics from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 7th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $3.90.

Akebia Therapeutics Price Performance

Shares of AKBA opened at $0.64 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.35, a current ratio of 1.43 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.99. Akebia Therapeutics has a 1 year low of $0.54 and a 1 year high of $3.20. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $0.86 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $1.17.

Akebia Therapeutics (NASDAQ:AKBA) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, August 5th. The biopharmaceutical company reported ($0.02) EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.04) by $0.02. Akebia Therapeutics had a negative net margin of 13.54% and a negative return on equity of 88.88%. The firm had revenue of $49.13 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $48.85 million. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Akebia Therapeutics will post -0.14 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Trading of Akebia Therapeutics

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. PFG Private Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in Akebia Therapeutics in the third quarter worth $34,000. Headlands Technologies LLC increased its position in Akebia Therapeutics by 60.3% during the second quarter. Headlands Technologies LLC now owns 77,992 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $89,000 after acquiring an additional 29,334 shares during the last quarter. Two Sigma Securities LLC bought a new position in Akebia Therapeutics during the second quarter valued at $46,000. Nantahala Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Akebia Therapeutics in the second quarter valued at $2,280,000. Finally, Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio purchased a new stake in shares of Akebia Therapeutics in the second quarter valued at $336,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 33.92% of the company’s stock.

Akebia Therapeutics Company Profile

Akebia Therapeutics, Inc is a biopharmaceutical company focused on developing and commercializing therapies for patients with kidney disease and related conditions. The company’s primary areas of interest include anemia associated with chronic kidney disease (CKD), iron deficiency, and disorders involving mineral metabolism.

Akebia’s key product is Vafseo (vadadustat), an oral hypoxia-inducible factor prolyl hydroxylase inhibitor designed to stimulate the body’s natural production of erythropoietin and support red blood cell formation.