Akebia Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:AKBA) Sees Large Decline in Short Interest

Akebia Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:AKBA) saw a significant decline in short interest during the month of November. As of November 15th, there was short interest totalling 11,960,000 shares, a decline of 19.4% from the October 31st total of 14,840,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 1,840,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 6.5 days.

Akebia Therapeutics Price Performance

Shares of AKBA stock opened at $2.06 on Monday. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $1.62 and its 200 day moving average price is $1.37. 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 $449.45 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -8.96 and a beta of 0.74.

Akebia Therapeutics (NASDAQ:AKBA) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, November 7th. The biopharmaceutical company reported ($0.10) earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates 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 last year, the firm earned ($0.08) EPS. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Akebia Therapeutics will post -0.24 earnings per share for the current year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have commented on the stock. StockNews.com lowered shares of Akebia Therapeutics from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 21st. HC Wainwright reissued a “buy” rating and set a $7.50 target price on shares of Akebia Therapeutics in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of AKBA. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV grew its holdings in shares of Akebia Therapeutics by 40.7% during the second 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 during the last quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC acquired a new stake in Akebia Therapeutics during the 2nd quarter worth about $34,000. Empirical Asset Management LLC purchased a new stake in Akebia Therapeutics during the 3rd quarter valued at about $44,000. B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Akebia Therapeutics in the second quarter valued at about $44,000. Finally, XTX Topco Ltd purchased a new position in shares of Akebia Therapeutics in the third quarter worth about $58,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 33.92% of the company’s stock.

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.