Akebia Therapeutics (NASDAQ:AKBA) Shares Cross Below Two Hundred Day Moving Average – Should You Sell?

Akebia Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:AKBA) crossed below its 200-day moving average during trading on Tuesday . The stock has a 200-day moving average of $1.47 and traded as low as $0.8750. Akebia Therapeutics shares last traded at $0.8951, with a volume of 15,461,488 shares.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have commented on AKBA shares. Zacks Research cut shares of Akebia Therapeutics from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 6th. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Akebia Therapeutics from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Saturday, May 9th. HC Wainwright reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $6.00 price target on shares of Akebia Therapeutics in a report on Friday, February 6th. Piper Sandler lowered their price target on shares of Akebia Therapeutics from $6.00 to $4.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, February 6th. Finally, Weiss Ratings restated a “sell (e+)” rating on shares of Akebia Therapeutics in a report on Wednesday, May 6th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $4.67.

Akebia Therapeutics Stock Performance

The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $1.36 and its 200-day moving average price is $1.47. The company has a current ratio of 1.40, a quick ratio of 1.33 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.33. The firm has a market cap of $240.12 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -11.19 and a beta of 0.35.

Akebia Therapeutics (NASDAQ:AKBA) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, May 7th. The biopharmaceutical company reported ($0.03) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.01) by ($0.02). Akebia Therapeutics had a negative net margin of 8.83% and a negative return on equity of 62.72%. The company had revenue of $53.54 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $51.67 million. Analysts expect that Akebia Therapeutics, Inc. will post -0.03 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Akebia Therapeutics news, CEO John P. Butler purchased 69,270 shares of Akebia Therapeutics stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 4th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $1.25 per share, for a total transaction of $86,587.50. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 3,367,064 shares in the company, valued at $4,208,830. This trade represents a 2.10% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. 4.30% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Akebia Therapeutics

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of AKBA. Cibc World Markets Corp purchased a new stake in Akebia Therapeutics in the 4th quarter valued at $27,000. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd raised its position in Akebia Therapeutics by 697.8% in the 4th quarter. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd now owns 20,622 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $33,000 after purchasing an additional 18,037 shares during the last quarter. Caption Management LLC purchased a new stake in Akebia Therapeutics in the 4th quarter valued at $40,000. Baird Financial Group Inc. raised its position in Akebia Therapeutics by 23.0% in the 1st quarter. Baird Financial Group Inc. now owns 21,393 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $41,000 after purchasing an additional 4,000 shares during the last quarter. Finally, State of Alaska Department of Revenue purchased a new stake in Akebia Therapeutics in the 3rd quarter valued at $42,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors 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.