Short Interest in Akebia Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:AKBA) Expands By 21.7%

Akebia Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:AKBA) was the recipient of a large growth in short interest during the month of December. As of December 15th, there was short interest totalling 14,070,000 shares, a growth of 21.7% from the November 30th total of 11,560,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 1,990,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 7.1 days.

Akebia Therapeutics Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:AKBA opened at $1.85 on Tuesday. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $1.87 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $1.49. Akebia Therapeutics has a 1 year low of $0.80 and a 1 year high of $2.48. The firm has a market capitalization of $403.63 million, a PE ratio of -8.04 and a beta of 0.70.

Akebia Therapeutics (NASDAQ:AKBA) last released its earnings results on Thursday, November 7th. The biopharmaceutical company reported ($0.10) earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.04) by ($0.06). The firm had revenue of $37.43 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $45.66 million. During the same period last year, the business posted ($0.08) EPS. Equities research analysts expect that Akebia Therapeutics will post -0.24 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Akebia Therapeutics

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of AKBA. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV boosted its holdings in shares of 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 valued at $32,000 after buying an additional 9,037 shares in the last quarter. Empirical Asset Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Akebia Therapeutics in the 3rd quarter worth $44,000. B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in Akebia Therapeutics during the 2nd quarter worth $44,000. XTX Topco Ltd acquired a new position in Akebia Therapeutics during the 3rd quarter valued at about $58,000. Finally, Intech Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in Akebia Therapeutics in the third quarter valued at about $59,000. 33.92% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

AKBA has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. HC Wainwright reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $7.50 price target on shares of Akebia Therapeutics in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. StockNews.com downgraded Akebia Therapeutics from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Monday.

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.