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

Akebia Therapeutics (NASDAQ:AKBA) was upgraded by analysts at StockNews.com from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report issued on Wednesday.

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

Akebia Therapeutics Stock Performance

Shares of AKBA traded down $0.01 during midday trading on Wednesday, hitting $2.03. 1,617,986 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,062,169. Akebia Therapeutics has a 52-week low of $0.80 and a 52-week high of $2.48. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $1.66 and a 200 day simple moving average of $1.39. The firm has a market cap of $442.91 million, a P/E ratio of -8.83 and a beta of 0.70.

Akebia Therapeutics (NASDAQ:AKBA) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, November 7th. The biopharmaceutical company reported ($0.10) earnings per share (EPS) 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 quarter in the prior year, the firm posted ($0.08) EPS. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Akebia Therapeutics will post -0.24 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Trading of Akebia Therapeutics

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in Akebia Therapeutics by 8.1% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 8,225,972 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $15,054,000 after buying an additional 618,500 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in Akebia Therapeutics by 4.8% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 4,754,464 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $6,277,000 after buying an additional 218,172 shares in the last quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC increased its position in shares of Akebia Therapeutics by 7.2% during the second 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 in the last quarter. State Street Corp increased its position in shares of Akebia Therapeutics by 24.9% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 3,430,527 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $4,528,000 after purchasing an additional 683,287 shares in the last quarter. Finally, FMR LLC increased its position in shares of Akebia Therapeutics by 26.0% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 682,038 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $900,000 after purchasing an additional 140,529 shares in the last quarter. 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.