Akebia Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:AKBA) Given Average Rating of “Buy” by Brokerages

Shares of Akebia Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:AKBA) have earned a consensus recommendation of “Buy” from the six research firms that are covering the company, MarketBeat reports. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, four have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. The average 12 month price objective among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $6.75.

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on the stock. HC Wainwright assumed coverage on shares of Akebia Therapeutics in a research note on Wednesday, June 4th. They set a “buy” rating and a $8.00 price objective for the company. Zacks Research downgraded shares of Akebia Therapeutics from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 13th.

Insider Transactions at Akebia Therapeutics

In related news, CAO Richard C. Malabre sold 15,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 in the company, valued at approximately $1,070,325.14. This trade represents a 5.32% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CFO Erik Ostrowski sold 41,314 shares of the firm’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 completion of the sale, the chief financial officer 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 69,648 shares of company stock valued at $258,841. Company insiders own 3.00% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Akebia Therapeutics

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of AKBA. AIGH Capital Management LLC bought a new position in Akebia Therapeutics in the 1st quarter valued at about $5,616,000. MPM Bioimpact LLC bought a new position in Akebia Therapeutics in the 2nd quarter valued at about $10,516,000. Woodline Partners LP bought a new position in Akebia Therapeutics in the 1st quarter valued at about $4,772,000. Nantahala Capital Management LLC bought a new position in Akebia Therapeutics in the 1st quarter valued at about $3,840,000. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Akebia Therapeutics by 16.6% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 12,685,803 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $24,357,000 after purchasing an additional 1,801,603 shares during the period. 33.92% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Akebia Therapeutics Trading Up 0.3%

Akebia Therapeutics stock opened at $3.14 on Tuesday. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $3.54 and a 200-day moving average of $2.81. Akebia Therapeutics has a one year low of $1.24 and a one year high of $4.08. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.61, a current ratio of 1.98 and a quick ratio of 1.84. The company has a market cap of $832.54 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -18.47 and a beta of 1.02.

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.