Insider Selling: Akebia Therapeutics (NASDAQ:AKBA) CAO Sells $68,838.36 in Stock

Akebia Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:AKBA) CAO Richard Malabre sold 49,524 shares of the company’s 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 sale, the chief accounting officer directly owned 299,390 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $416,152.10. This represents a 14.19% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink.

Akebia Therapeutics Price Performance

AKBA stock opened at $1.39 on Friday. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $1.51 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $2.35. The firm has a market cap of $368.86 million, a P/E ratio of -19.85 and a beta of 0.38. The company has a quick ratio of 1.80, a current ratio of 1.94 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.15. Akebia Therapeutics, Inc. has a 12 month low of $1.30 and a 12 month high of $4.08.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in AKBA. UBS Group AG raised 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 worth $9,954,000 after purchasing an additional 3,006,771 shares during the last quarter. MPM Bioimpact LLC purchased a new position in Akebia Therapeutics during the second quarter worth about $10,516,000. Invesco Ltd. grew its position in Akebia Therapeutics by 528.1% in the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 2,400,757 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $6,554,000 after purchasing an additional 2,018,547 shares in the last quarter. Citigroup Inc. grew its position in Akebia Therapeutics by 1,324.7% in the 3rd quarter. Citigroup Inc. now owns 1,916,692 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $5,233,000 after purchasing an additional 1,782,162 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. increased its stake in Akebia Therapeutics by 171.8% in 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 buying an additional 1,722,245 shares during the last quarter. 33.92% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Akebia Therapeutics News Roundup

Here are the key news stories impacting Akebia Therapeutics this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Large institutional buying: multiple firms (UBS, Invesco, Citigroup, Goldman Sachs and others) have materially increased positions in AKBA in recent quarters — a bullish signal for demand and potential share support. MarketBeat — AKBA
• Neutral Sentiment: HC Wainwright retained a “Buy” rating and a $6.00 price target on AKBA, which keeps a positive analyst endorsement despite other revisions. Benzinga — HC Wainwright Note
• Neutral Sentiment: Reported short interest data shows effectively zero short interest as of Feb. 6 (the report appears anomalous), which limits near-term short-squeeze dynamics but is likely not meaningful by itself. MarketBeat — Short Interest
• Negative Sentiment: HC Wainwright cut near-term EPS forecasts (Q2, Q3, Q4 and FY2026) and trimmed FY2029 estimates — the analyst lowered several quarterly and multi-year EPS projections, which is negative for short-term earnings expectations even though the firm kept a Buy rating. MarketBeat — HC Wainwright EPS Revisions
• Negative Sentiment: Piper Sandler cut its price target to $4.00 (from $6.00) while keeping an overweight rating — a lower near-term valuation anchor that reduces analyst-implied upside. Benzinga — Piper Sandler Note
• Negative Sentiment: Insider selling: CAO Richard Malabre sold 49,524 shares at about $1.39 on Feb. 2, reducing his stake by ~14% — an insider sale that can be perceived negatively by some investors. SEC Filing — Insider Sale

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have commented on AKBA shares. BTIG Research reissued a “buy” rating and set a $5.00 target price on shares of Akebia Therapeutics in a research note on Tuesday, December 2nd. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Akebia Therapeutics in a research note on Wednesday, January 21st. HC Wainwright reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $6.00 price objective on shares of Akebia Therapeutics in a research note on Friday. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Akebia Therapeutics from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, November 28th. Finally, Piper Sandler dropped their price target on Akebia Therapeutics from $6.00 to $4.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have issued a Buy rating, one has assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Akebia Therapeutics presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $5.60.

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.