Akebia Therapeutics (NASDAQ:AKBA) Rating Increased to Hold at StockNews.com

StockNews.com upgraded shares of Akebia Therapeutics (NASDAQ:AKBA) from a sell rating to a hold rating in a research report sent to investors on Monday morning.

Separately, HC Wainwright reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $7.50 target price on shares of Akebia Therapeutics in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd.

Akebia Therapeutics Trading Down 1.9 %

Shares of NASDAQ AKBA opened at $2.10 on Monday. Akebia Therapeutics has a 1-year low of $0.80 and a 1-year high of $2.48. The company has a market cap of $458.18 million, a PE ratio of -9.13 and a beta of 0.74. The company has a 50-day moving average of $2.01 and a two-hundred day moving average of $1.69.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Akebia Therapeutics news, SVP Steven Keith Burke sold 50,506 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $2.10, for a total value of $106,062.60. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 816,234 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,714,091.40. This represents a 5.83 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO John P. Butler sold 144,250 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $2.10, for a total transaction of $302,925.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2,604,330 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,469,093. The trade was a 5.25 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 280,579 shares of company stock valued at $589,216 over the last ninety days. Insiders own 4.10% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in AKBA. State Street Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Akebia Therapeutics by 24.9% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 3,430,527 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $4,528,000 after buying an additional 683,287 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP acquired a new position in Akebia Therapeutics during the third quarter worth $534,000. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in Akebia Therapeutics by 4.8% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 4,754,464 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $6,277,000 after purchasing an additional 218,172 shares during the last quarter. Barclays PLC boosted its holdings in Akebia Therapeutics by 276.1% during the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 273,085 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $360,000 after purchasing an additional 200,482 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. acquired a new position in Akebia Therapeutics during the third quarter worth $221,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.