Akebia Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:AKBA) Shares Purchased by New York State Common Retirement Fund

New York State Common Retirement Fund raised its position in shares of Akebia Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:AKBA) by 207.2% in the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 38,400 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock after purchasing an additional 25,900 shares during the period. New York State Common Retirement Fund’s holdings in Akebia Therapeutics were worth $74,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Mariner LLC bought a new position in Akebia Therapeutics in the 4th quarter valued at about $28,000. Unified Investment Management grew its position in Akebia Therapeutics by 47.8% in the 1st quarter. Unified Investment Management now owns 17,000 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $33,000 after buying an additional 5,500 shares in the last quarter. Aquatic Capital Management LLC bought a new position in Akebia Therapeutics in the 4th quarter valued at about $47,000. Two Sigma Securities LLC grew its position in Akebia Therapeutics by 206.8% in the 4th quarter. Two Sigma Securities LLC now owns 40,826 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $78,000 after buying an additional 27,517 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new position in Akebia Therapeutics in the 4th quarter valued at about $85,000. 33.92% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on AKBA shares. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Akebia Therapeutics from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, May 3rd. HC Wainwright started coverage on shares of Akebia Therapeutics in a research report on Wednesday, June 4th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $8.00 target price for the company. Jefferies Financial Group started coverage on shares of Akebia Therapeutics in a research report on Tuesday, April 1st. They issued a “buy” rating and a $6.00 target price for the company. Leerink Partners began coverage on shares of Akebia Therapeutics in a research report on Monday, April 28th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $7.00 target price for the company. Finally, Leerink Partnrs raised shares of Akebia Therapeutics to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, April 28th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, four have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $6.75.

Akebia Therapeutics Price Performance

AKBA stock opened at $3.56 on Monday. The company has a current ratio of 2.23, a quick ratio of 2.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.89. Akebia Therapeutics, Inc. has a one year low of $1.07 and a one year high of $4.08. The firm has a market capitalization of $935.00 million, a PE ratio of -16.95 and a beta of 0.88. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $3.55 and a two-hundred day moving average of $2.60.

Akebia Therapeutics (NASDAQ:AKBA) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 8th. The biopharmaceutical company reported $0.03 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.03) by $0.06. The firm had revenue of $57.34 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $44.88 million. On average, analysts forecast that Akebia Therapeutics, Inc. will post -0.3 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Akebia Therapeutics

In other news, CAO Richard C. Malabre sold 15,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $4.01, for a total value of $60,150.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer directly owned 266,914 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,070,325.14. This represents a 5.32% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CFO Erik Ostrowski sold 41,314 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $3.67, for a total transaction of $151,622.38. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 503,586 shares in the company, valued at $1,848,160.62. The trade was a 7.58% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 69,648 shares of company stock valued at $258,841 over the last ninety days. Insiders own 3.00% of the company’s stock.

Akebia Therapeutics 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.