Wellington Management Group LLP Purchases 164,440 Shares of Akebia Therapeutics, Inc. $AKBA

Wellington Management Group LLP increased its position in shares of Akebia Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:AKBA) by 32.7% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 666,567 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock after buying an additional 164,440 shares during the quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP owned 0.25% of Akebia Therapeutics worth $1,280,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of AKBA. Mariner LLC bought a new position in shares of Akebia Therapeutics during the fourth quarter worth about $28,000. Unified Investment Management grew its holdings in shares of Akebia Therapeutics by 47.8% during the first quarter. Unified Investment Management now owns 17,000 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $33,000 after buying an additional 5,500 shares in the last quarter. E Fund Management Co. Ltd. grew its holdings in shares of Akebia Therapeutics by 51.9% during the first quarter. E Fund Management Co. Ltd. now owns 19,311 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $37,000 after buying an additional 6,595 shares in the last quarter. Aquatic Capital Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Akebia Therapeutics during the fourth quarter worth about $47,000. Finally, New York State Common Retirement Fund boosted its position in Akebia Therapeutics by 207.2% during the first quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund now owns 38,400 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $74,000 after purchasing an additional 25,900 shares during the last quarter. 33.92% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

AKBA has been the subject of several recent research reports. Zacks Research cut Akebia Therapeutics from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 13th. HC Wainwright initiated coverage on Akebia Therapeutics in a research report on Wednesday, June 4th. They set a “buy” rating and a $8.00 price target for the company. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have given a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $6.75.

Akebia Therapeutics Stock Performance

AKBA opened at $3.14 on Monday. Akebia Therapeutics, Inc. has a 12-month low of $1.24 and a 12-month high of $4.08. The stock has a market cap of $832.54 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -18.47 and a beta of 1.02. The business has a 50 day moving average of $3.55 and a 200-day moving average of $2.81. The company has a quick ratio of 1.84, a current ratio of 1.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.61.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CFO Erik Ostrowski sold 41,314 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $3.67, for a total value of $151,622.38. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 503,586 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,848,160.62. This trade represents a 7.58% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CAO Richard C. Malabre sold 15,000 shares of the firm’s 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 approximately $1,070,325.14. The trade was a 5.32% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 69,648 shares of company stock valued at $258,841. Insiders own 3.00% of the company’s stock.

About Akebia Therapeutics

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.