Akebia Therapeutics (NASDAQ:AKBA) Stock Rating Lowered by StockNews.com

Akebia Therapeutics (NASDAQ:AKBA) was downgraded by analysts at StockNews.com from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note issued to investors on Monday.

Separately, HC Wainwright restated a “buy” rating and issued a $7.50 price objective on shares of Akebia Therapeutics in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd.

Akebia Therapeutics Trading Down 2.0 %

Shares of NASDAQ:AKBA opened at $1.95 on Monday. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $1.47 and a 200-day moving average price of $1.31. The company has a market cap of $410.07 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -8.43 and a beta of 0.74. Akebia Therapeutics has a 12 month low of $0.80 and a 12 month high of $2.48.

Akebia Therapeutics (NASDAQ:AKBA) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, November 7th. The biopharmaceutical company reported ($0.10) EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.04) by ($0.06). The business had revenue of $37.43 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $45.66 million. During the same period last year, the firm earned ($0.08) earnings per share. As a group, research analysts forecast that Akebia Therapeutics will post -0.19 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Akebia Therapeutics

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in AKBA. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Akebia Therapeutics by 8.1% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 8,225,972 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $15,054,000 after purchasing an additional 618,500 shares in the last quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Akebia Therapeutics in the first quarter worth $79,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its holdings in shares of Akebia Therapeutics by 3,122.2% during the second quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 604,551 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $617,000 after acquiring an additional 585,789 shares in the last quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC raised its position in shares of Akebia Therapeutics by 7.2% in the 2nd quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 3,914,800 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $3,993,000 after purchasing an additional 262,700 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV boosted its stake in Akebia Therapeutics by 40.7% in the 2nd quarter. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV now owns 31,221 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $32,000 after purchasing an additional 9,037 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 33.92% of the company’s stock.

About Akebia Therapeutics

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.