Akebia Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:AKBA) Given Average Rating of “Hold” by Brokerages

Shares of Akebia Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:AKBA) have been given an average rating of “Hold” by the five brokerages that are presently covering the company, MarketBeat reports. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has issued a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average 12 month price objective among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $4.6667.

AKBA has been the topic of several recent research reports. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “sell (e+)” rating on shares of Akebia Therapeutics in a research note on Wednesday, May 6th. HC Wainwright reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $6.00 price objective on shares of Akebia Therapeutics in a research note on Wednesday, July 1st. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Akebia Therapeutics from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Saturday, May 9th. BTIG Research restated a “buy” rating and issued a $4.00 price target on shares of Akebia Therapeutics in a research report on Tuesday, April 7th. Finally, Zacks Research upgraded Akebia Therapeutics from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 7th.

Akebia Therapeutics Stock Performance

NASDAQ AKBA opened at $1.22 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $327.28 million, a P/E ratio of -15.25 and a beta of 0.23. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $1.12 and its 200 day simple moving average is $1.28. Akebia Therapeutics has a twelve month low of $0.82 and a twelve month high of $4.01. The company has a quick ratio of 1.33, a current ratio of 1.40 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.33.

Akebia Therapeutics (NASDAQ:AKBA) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 7th. The biopharmaceutical company reported ($0.03) earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.01) by ($0.02). The company had revenue of $53.54 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $51.67 million. Akebia Therapeutics had a negative net margin of 8.83% and a negative return on equity of 62.72%. As a group, research analysts forecast that Akebia Therapeutics will post -0.1 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Akebia Therapeutics

In other Akebia Therapeutics news, CFO Erik Ostrowski sold 56,019 shares of Akebia Therapeutics stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $1.11, for a total value of $62,181.09. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 616,616 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $684,443.76. The trade was a 8.33% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Insiders own 4.30% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Nordea Investment Management AB acquired a new position in Akebia Therapeutics during the fourth quarter worth approximately $1,215,000. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. bought a new stake in Akebia Therapeutics in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $803,000. Bank of America Corp DE lifted its position in shares of Akebia Therapeutics by 22.4% in the first quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 2,763,362 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $3,841,000 after buying an additional 505,951 shares during the last quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC acquired a new stake in shares of Akebia Therapeutics in the first quarter valued at approximately $206,000. Finally, Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd bought a new position in shares of Akebia Therapeutics during the 1st quarter worth approximately $59,000. 33.92% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.