Akebia Therapeutics (NASDAQ:AKBA) Lifted to “Buy” at StockNews.com

Akebia Therapeutics (NASDAQ:AKBA) was upgraded by stock analysts at StockNews.com from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report issued on Friday.

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

Akebia Therapeutics Trading Down 2.2 %

NASDAQ AKBA traded down $0.03 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $1.36. The company had a trading volume of 2,954,603 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,380,796. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $1.60 and a 200 day moving average of $1.33. Akebia Therapeutics has a 1-year low of $0.59 and a 1-year high of $2.48. The stock has a market capitalization of $284.75 million, a P/E ratio of -4.86 and a beta of 0.79.

Akebia Therapeutics (NASDAQ:AKBA) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, March 14th. The biopharmaceutical company reported ($0.04) EPS for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.04). The company had revenue of $56.20 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $55.64 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned ($0.04) EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Akebia Therapeutics will post -0.28 EPS for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Akebia Therapeutics

In other news, CEO John P. Butler sold 46,489 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $1.68, for a total transaction of $78,101.52. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 2,128,883 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,576,523.44. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other news, CEO John P. Butler sold 46,489 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $1.68, for a total transaction of $78,101.52. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 2,128,883 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,576,523.44. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO John P. Butler sold 37,733 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $1.52, for a total transaction of $57,354.16. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2,091,150 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,178,548. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 187,893 shares of company stock valued at $300,598. 3.84% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Akebia Therapeutics

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Mackenzie Financial Corp increased its stake in shares of Akebia Therapeutics by 37.6% during the fourth quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 23,159 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $29,000 after buying an additional 6,330 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp increased its stake in shares of Akebia Therapeutics by 2.7% during the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 310,368 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $385,000 after buying an additional 8,247 shares during the period. Raymond James & Associates increased its stake in shares of Akebia Therapeutics by 48.0% during the fourth quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 29,917 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $37,000 after buying an additional 9,696 shares during the period. HighTower Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Akebia Therapeutics by 18.4% during the first quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 70,350 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $40,000 after buying an additional 10,925 shares during the period. Finally, Archer Investment Corp purchased a new stake in shares of Akebia Therapeutics during the fourth quarter worth approximately $25,000. 33.92% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Akebia Therapeutics Company Profile

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 patients.