Akebia Therapeutics (NASDAQ:AKBA) Stock Rating Lowered by Wall Street Zen

Akebia Therapeutics (NASDAQ:AKBA) was downgraded by equities researchers at Wall Street Zen from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report released on Saturday.

A number of other brokerages have also commented on AKBA. HC Wainwright assumed coverage on Akebia Therapeutics in a research report on Wednesday, June 4th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $8.00 target price for the company. Zacks Research lowered Akebia Therapeutics from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 13th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have issued a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $6.75.

Akebia Therapeutics Stock Performance

AKBA stock opened at $2.95 on Friday. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $3.43 and a 200-day moving average price of $2.87. Akebia Therapeutics has a 1-year low of $1.24 and a 1-year high of $4.08. The company has a current ratio of 1.98, a quick ratio of 1.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.61. The firm has a market cap of $782.16 million, a PE ratio of -17.35 and a beta of 1.02.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Akebia Therapeutics news, 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 value of $151,622.38. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 503,586 shares in the company, valued at $1,848,160.62. This trade represents a 7.58% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. 3.00% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Akebia Therapeutics

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Baird Financial Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Akebia Therapeutics by 23.0% during the first quarter. Baird Financial Group Inc. now owns 21,393 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $41,000 after acquiring an additional 4,000 shares in the last quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Akebia Therapeutics by 9.4% during the second quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 51,266 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $187,000 after acquiring an additional 4,388 shares in the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc grew its position in Akebia Therapeutics by 26.0% in the 2nd quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 23,279 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $85,000 after purchasing an additional 4,798 shares during the period. PDS Planning Inc grew its position in Akebia Therapeutics by 11.1% in the 2nd quarter. PDS Planning Inc now owns 50,000 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $182,000 after purchasing an additional 5,000 shares during the period. Finally, Ameritas Investment Partners Inc. grew its position in Akebia Therapeutics by 25.2% in the 2nd quarter. Ameritas Investment Partners Inc. now owns 25,525 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $93,000 after purchasing an additional 5,145 shares during the period. 33.92% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Akebia Therapeutics Company 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.