HC Wainwright Reiterates Buy Rating for Akebia Therapeutics (NASDAQ:AKBA)

Akebia Therapeutics (NASDAQ:AKBA)‘s stock had its “buy” rating restated by investment analysts at HC Wainwright in a research note issued on Friday,Benzinga reports. They presently have a $7.50 target price on the biopharmaceutical company’s stock. HC Wainwright’s price objective suggests a potential upside of 231.86% from the company’s previous close.

Separately, StockNews.com downgraded Akebia Therapeutics from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 6th.

Akebia Therapeutics Stock Up 33.7 %

Shares of NASDAQ:AKBA opened at $2.26 on Friday. Akebia Therapeutics has a 52-week low of $0.80 and a 52-week high of $2.48. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $2.02 and its 200-day simple moving average is $1.79. The company has a market capitalization of $493.09 million, a P/E ratio of -9.83 and a beta of 0.94.

Akebia Therapeutics (NASDAQ:AKBA) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, March 13th. The biopharmaceutical company reported ($0.10) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.05) by ($0.05). The firm had revenue of $46.50 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $37.36 million. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Akebia Therapeutics will post -0.3 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity at Akebia Therapeutics

In related news, SVP Steven Keith Burke sold 50,506 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $2.10, for a total value of $106,062.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 816,234 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,714,091.40. This represents a 5.83 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CAO Richard C. Malabre sold 30,202 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $2.10, for a total value of $63,424.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 280,248 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $588,520.80. The trade was a 9.73 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 280,579 shares of company stock worth $589,216. 4.10% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Akebia Therapeutics

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in AKBA. Intech Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Akebia Therapeutics in the third quarter worth about $59,000. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company purchased a new stake in shares of Akebia Therapeutics in the third quarter worth about $104,000. FMR LLC boosted its position in shares of Akebia Therapeutics by 26.0% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 682,038 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $900,000 after buying an additional 140,529 shares during the period. BNP Paribas Financial Markets boosted its position in shares of Akebia Therapeutics by 205.8% in the third quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 46,270 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $61,000 after buying an additional 31,137 shares during the period. Finally, MetLife Investment Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Akebia Therapeutics by 25.7% in the third quarter. MetLife Investment Management LLC now owns 68,064 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $90,000 after buying an additional 13,907 shares during the period. 33.92% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.