Akebia Therapeutics (NASDAQ:AKBA) Earns “Buy” Rating from HC Wainwright

Akebia Therapeutics (NASDAQ:AKBA)‘s stock had its “buy” rating restated by analysts at HC Wainwright in a report released on Friday,Benzinga reports. They currently have a $6.00 target price on the biopharmaceutical company’s stock. HC Wainwright’s price objective would suggest a potential upside of 334.78% from the stock’s current price.

A number of other equities analysts also recently issued reports on AKBA. Weiss Ratings restated a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Akebia Therapeutics in a research report on Wednesday, January 21st. BTIG Research reissued a “buy” rating and set a $5.00 target price on shares of Akebia Therapeutics in a research report on Tuesday, December 2nd. Finally, Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Akebia Therapeutics from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, November 28th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have issued a Buy rating, one has given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Akebia Therapeutics has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $6.00.

Akebia Therapeutics Trading Up 0.7%

Shares of NASDAQ AKBA opened at $1.38 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $366.21 million, a P/E ratio of -19.71 and a beta of 0.38. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $1.52 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $2.37. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.15, a quick ratio of 1.80 and a current ratio of 1.94. Akebia Therapeutics has a 52-week low of $1.30 and a 52-week high of $4.08.

Insider Transactions at Akebia Therapeutics

In other Akebia Therapeutics news, 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 transaction of $68,838.36. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer directly owned 299,390 shares in the company, valued at approximately $416,152.10. This represents a 14.19% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Company insiders own 3.00% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. UBS Group AG grew its holdings 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 acquiring an additional 3,006,771 shares in the last quarter. MPM Bioimpact LLC purchased a new position in Akebia Therapeutics in the second quarter worth $10,516,000. Invesco Ltd. grew its stake in Akebia Therapeutics by 528.1% in the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 2,400,757 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $6,554,000 after purchasing an additional 2,018,547 shares during the period. Citigroup Inc. increased its position in shares of Akebia Therapeutics by 1,324.7% during the 3rd quarter. Citigroup Inc. now owns 1,916,692 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $5,233,000 after purchasing an additional 1,782,162 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Akebia Therapeutics by 171.8% during the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 2,724,439 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $5,231,000 after purchasing an additional 1,722,245 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 33.92% of the company’s stock.

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.