Akebia Therapeutics (NASDAQ:AKBA) Trading Down 3.7% Following Insider Selling

Akebia Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:AKBA) shares were down 3.7% during trading on Wednesday after an insider sold shares in the company. The stock traded as low as $3.75 and last traded at $3.78. Approximately 744,945 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 76% from the average daily volume of 3,136,688 shares. The stock had previously closed at $3.92.

Specifically, CAO Richard C. Malabre sold 15,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $4.01, for a total transaction of $60,150.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 266,914 shares in the company, valued at $1,070,325.14. This trade represents a 5.32% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CAO Richard C. Malabre sold 13,334 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, June 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $3.53, for a total transaction of $47,069.02. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 266,914 shares in the company, valued at approximately $942,206.42. The trade was a 4.76% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on AKBA. Leerink Partnrs raised Akebia Therapeutics to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, April 28th. HC Wainwright started coverage on Akebia Therapeutics in a research report on Wednesday, June 4th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $8.00 price objective on the stock. Wall Street Zen upgraded Akebia Therapeutics from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, May 3rd. Piper Sandler lifted their price target on shares of Akebia Therapeutics from $4.00 to $6.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, March 14th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group began coverage on shares of Akebia Therapeutics in a research report on Tuesday, April 1st. They set a “buy” rating and a $6.00 target price for the company. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, four have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Akebia Therapeutics has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $6.75.

Akebia Therapeutics Stock Down 2.1%

The company has a market cap of $938.92 million, a PE ratio of -15.59 and a beta of 0.85. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $2.55 and its 200-day moving average is $2.19.

Akebia Therapeutics (NASDAQ:AKBA) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 8th. The biopharmaceutical company reported $0.03 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.03) by $0.06. The business had revenue of $57.34 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $44.88 million. On average, analysts anticipate that Akebia Therapeutics, Inc. will post -0.3 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Akebia Therapeutics

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in AKBA. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in Akebia Therapeutics during the 4th quarter worth approximately $26,000. PDS Planning Inc purchased a new position in shares of Akebia Therapeutics during the fourth quarter worth $28,000. Mariner LLC acquired a new position in Akebia Therapeutics during the fourth quarter valued at $28,000. Unified Investment Management boosted its holdings in Akebia Therapeutics by 47.8% in the first quarter. Unified Investment Management now owns 17,000 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $33,000 after purchasing an additional 5,500 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Cibc World Markets Corp acquired a new position in shares of Akebia Therapeutics in the 4th quarter valued at about $37,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 33.92% of the company’s stock.

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.