Akebia Therapeutics, Inc. $AKBA Shares Bought by Goldman Sachs Group Inc.

Goldman Sachs Group Inc. raised its stake in Akebia Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:AKBA) by 171.8% during the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 2,724,439 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock after buying an additional 1,722,245 shares during the quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. owned about 1.04% of Akebia Therapeutics worth $5,231,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Unified Investment Management increased its stake in 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 purchasing an additional 5,500 shares during the period. E Fund Management Co. Ltd. increased its stake in 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 purchasing an additional 6,595 shares during the period. Baird Financial Group Inc. increased its stake in Akebia Therapeutics by 23.0% during the first quarter. Baird Financial Group Inc. now owns 21,393 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $41,000 after purchasing an additional 4,000 shares during the period. New York State Common Retirement Fund increased its stake 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 worth $74,000 after purchasing an additional 25,900 shares during the period. Finally, PDS Planning Inc increased its stake in Akebia Therapeutics by 200.0% during the first quarter. PDS Planning Inc now owns 45,000 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $86,000 after purchasing an additional 30,000 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 33.92% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Zacks Research lowered shares of Akebia Therapeutics from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 13th. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Akebia Therapeutics from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday. Finally, 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 target price on the stock. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have issued a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $6.75.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CFO Erik Ostrowski sold 41,314 shares of Akebia Therapeutics stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 30th. The stock was 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 in the company, valued at approximately $1,848,160.62. This trade represents a 7.58% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 3.00% of the company’s stock.

Akebia Therapeutics Trading Down 3.1%

NASDAQ:AKBA opened at $2.83 on Wednesday. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $3.40 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $2.89. The stock has a market capitalization of $750.35 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -16.65 and a beta of 1.02. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.61, a quick ratio of 1.84 and a current ratio of 1.98. Akebia Therapeutics, Inc. has a 1 year low of $1.24 and a 1 year high of $4.08.

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.