Akebia Therapeutics (NASDAQ:AKBA) Receives “Buy” Rating from BTIG Research

BTIG Research reissued their buy rating on shares of Akebia Therapeutics (NASDAQ:AKBA) in a research note published on Tuesday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a $4.00 target price on the biopharmaceutical company’s stock.

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

Akebia Therapeutics Trading Up 4.5%

Shares of AKBA opened at $1.38 on Tuesday. The company has a current ratio of 1.55, a quick ratio of 1.46 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.48. Akebia Therapeutics has a 12-month low of $1.14 and a 12-month high of $4.08. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $1.35 and a 200 day moving average price of $1.77. The firm has a market capitalization of $369.67 million, a P/E ratio of -68.97 and a beta of 0.37.

Akebia Therapeutics (NASDAQ:AKBA) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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). Akebia Therapeutics had a negative net margin of 2.26% and a negative return on equity of 16.70%. The firm had revenue of $57.62 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $48.37 million. Sell-side analysts forecast that Akebia Therapeutics will post -0.3 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO John P. Butler bought 69,270 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 4th. The stock was bought at an average price of $1.25 per share, with a total value of $86,587.50. Following the completion of the purchase, the chief executive officer directly owned 3,367,064 shares in the company, valued at $4,208,830. This represents a 2.10% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CAO Richard C. Malabre sold 49,524 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $1.39, for a total transaction 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 position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Company insiders own 3.00% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Akebia Therapeutics by 6.4% in the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 15,547,508 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $42,445,000 after purchasing an additional 936,042 shares during the period. State Street Corp boosted its stake in shares of Akebia Therapeutics by 15.6% in the fourth quarter. State Street Corp now owns 13,687,561 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $22,037,000 after purchasing an additional 1,842,792 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Akebia Therapeutics by 1.5% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 6,277,177 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $10,108,000 after purchasing an additional 92,226 shares during the period. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Akebia Therapeutics by 166.2% in the fourth quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 4,706,437 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $7,577,000 after purchasing an additional 2,938,624 shares during the period. Finally, UBS Group AG boosted its stake in shares of Akebia Therapeutics by 470.2% in the third quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 3,646,233 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $9,954,000 after purchasing an additional 3,006,771 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 33.92% of the company’s stock.

About Akebia Therapeutics

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.