Akebia Therapeutics, Inc. $AKBA Position Boosted by Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc.

Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its position in shares of Akebia Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:AKBA) by 6.2% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 622,914 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock after purchasing an additional 36,204 shares during the quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. owned about 0.24% of Akebia Therapeutics worth $1,196,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Mariner LLC bought a new stake in shares of Akebia Therapeutics during the 4th quarter worth $28,000. Unified Investment Management raised 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 acquiring an additional 5,500 shares in the last quarter. Aquatic Capital Management LLC bought a new position in Akebia Therapeutics during the fourth quarter valued at about $47,000. New York State Common Retirement Fund raised its holdings 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 buying an additional 25,900 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new position in Akebia Therapeutics during the fourth quarter valued at about $85,000. 33.92% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Akebia Therapeutics Price Performance

Shares of AKBA stock opened at $3.14 on Tuesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $832.54 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -18.47 and a beta of 1.02. The company has a quick ratio of 1.84, a current ratio of 1.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.61. Akebia Therapeutics, Inc. has a 12-month low of $1.24 and a 12-month high of $4.08. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $3.54 and a 200-day moving average of $2.81.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on AKBA. Zacks Research downgraded Akebia Therapeutics from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 13th. HC Wainwright started coverage on shares of Akebia Therapeutics in a research note on Wednesday, June 4th. They set a “buy” rating and a $8.00 price target for the company. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have given a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Akebia Therapeutics has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $6.75.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Akebia Therapeutics news, CFO Erik Ostrowski sold 41,314 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $3.67, for a total transaction of $151,622.38. Following the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 503,586 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,848,160.62. The trade was a 7.58% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CAO Richard C. Malabre sold 15,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $4.01, for a total transaction of $60,150.00. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer directly owned 266,914 shares in the company, valued at $1,070,325.14. This trade represents 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. Company 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.