Akebia Therapeutics, Inc. $AKBA Shares Sold by Assenagon Asset Management S.A.

Assenagon Asset Management S.A. cut its stake in Akebia Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:AKBA) by 94.2% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 24,872 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock after selling 401,894 shares during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A.’s holdings in Akebia Therapeutics were worth $40,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Baird Financial Group Inc. boosted its position in Akebia Therapeutics by 23.0% in the first quarter. Baird Financial Group Inc. now owns 21,393 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $41,000 after buying an additional 4,000 shares during the last quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue purchased a new position in Akebia Therapeutics during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $42,000. Unified Investment Management purchased a new position in Akebia Therapeutics during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $49,000. Polymer Capital Management US LLC lifted its stake in Akebia Therapeutics by 49.5% during the 3rd quarter. Polymer Capital Management US LLC now owns 18,232 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $50,000 after acquiring an additional 6,034 shares during the period. Finally, Parkwoods Wealth Partners LLC acquired a new stake in Akebia Therapeutics during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $55,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 33.92% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have commented on the stock. Piper Sandler lowered their price target on shares of Akebia Therapeutics from $6.00 to $4.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, February 6th. Wall Street Zen downgraded Akebia Therapeutics from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, February 28th. Zacks Research lowered Akebia Therapeutics from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a report on Thursday, February 26th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Akebia Therapeutics in a research report on Wednesday, January 21st. Finally, HC Wainwright reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $6.00 price target on shares of Akebia Therapeutics in a report on Friday, February 6th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have assigned a Buy rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $5.25.

Insider Transactions at Akebia Therapeutics

In other news, CEO John P. Butler bought 69,270 shares of Akebia Therapeutics stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 4th. The stock was bought at an average price of $1.25 per share, for a total transaction of $86,587.50. Following the purchase, the chief executive officer owned 3,367,064 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,208,830. The trade was a 2.10% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CAO Richard C. Malabre sold 49,524 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $1.39, for a total value of $68,838.36. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer directly owned 299,390 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $416,152.10. This trade represents a 14.19% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. 3.00% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Akebia Therapeutics Stock Performance

NASDAQ AKBA opened at $1.38 on Friday. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $1.36 and a 200-day simple moving average of $1.82. The company has a current ratio of 1.55, a quick ratio of 1.46 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.48. The stock has a market cap of $369.67 million, a PE ratio of -68.97 and a beta of 0.37. Akebia Therapeutics, Inc. has a twelve month low of $1.14 and a twelve month high of $4.08.

Akebia Therapeutics (NASDAQ:AKBA) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 26th. The biopharmaceutical company reported ($0.05) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.03) by ($0.02). The business had revenue of $57.62 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $48.37 million. Akebia Therapeutics had a negative return on equity of 16.70% and a negative net margin of 2.26%. Equities analysts anticipate that Akebia Therapeutics, Inc. will post -0.3 earnings per share for the current year.

Akebia Therapeutics Company Profile

Akebia Therapeutics, Inc, a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company headquartered in Cambridge, Massachusetts, is focused on the development and commercialization of therapies for patients with kidney disease. The company’s lead product candidate, vadadustat, is an investigational oral hypoxia-inducible factor prolyl hydroxylase inhibitor designed to treat anemia associated with chronic kidney disease in both dialysis-dependent and non-dialysis patients. Akebia’s research and development efforts also extend to preclinical programs targeting nephrology and related metabolic disorders.

Since its founding in 2007, Akebia has pursued strategic collaborations to advance its clinical pipeline and expand its market reach.