Zacks Research Upgrades Akebia Therapeutics (NASDAQ:AKBA) to Hold

Akebia Therapeutics (NASDAQ:AKBA) was upgraded by stock analysts at Zacks Research from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a note issued to investors on Tuesday,Zacks.com reports.

Other equities research analysts have also issued research reports about the company. Piper Sandler dropped their price target on Akebia Therapeutics from $6.00 to $4.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, February 6th. BTIG Research reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $4.00 target price on shares of Akebia Therapeutics in a research report on Tuesday. HC Wainwright reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $6.00 target price on shares of Akebia Therapeutics in a research report on Friday, February 6th. Wall Street Zen lowered Akebia Therapeutics from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, February 28th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reissued a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Akebia Therapeutics in a research report on Wednesday, January 21st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have issued a Buy rating, one has issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Akebia Therapeutics has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $5.25.

Akebia Therapeutics Trading Up 3.6%

NASDAQ AKBA opened at $1.43 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $383.07 million, a P/E ratio of -71.46 and a beta of 0.37. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.48, a current ratio of 1.55 and a quick ratio of 1.46. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $1.35 and its 200-day moving average is $1.77. Akebia Therapeutics has a one year low of $1.14 and a one year high of $4.08.

Akebia Therapeutics (NASDAQ:AKBA) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 26th. The biopharmaceutical company reported ($0.05) EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.03) by ($0.02). The business had revenue of $57.62 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $48.37 million. Akebia Therapeutics had a negative return on equity of 16.70% and a negative net margin of 2.26%. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Akebia Therapeutics will post -0.3 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Akebia Therapeutics

In other Akebia Therapeutics news, CAO Richard C. Malabre sold 49,524 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $1.39, for a total transaction of $68,838.36. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer owned 299,390 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $416,152.10. The trade was a 14.19% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CEO John P. Butler purchased 69,270 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 4th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $1.25 per share, for a total transaction of $86,587.50. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 3,367,064 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,208,830. The trade was a 2.10% increase in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this purchase provides additional information. 3.00% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in AKBA. Cibc World Markets Corp acquired a new position in shares of Akebia Therapeutics during the 4th quarter worth approximately $27,000. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd increased its position in shares of Akebia Therapeutics by 697.8% during the 4th quarter. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd now owns 20,622 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $33,000 after purchasing an additional 18,037 shares during the last quarter. Caption Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Akebia Therapeutics during the 4th quarter worth approximately $40,000. Baird Financial Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Akebia Therapeutics by 23.0% during the 1st quarter. Baird Financial Group Inc. now owns 21,393 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $41,000 after purchasing an additional 4,000 shares during the last quarter. Finally, State of Alaska Department of Revenue acquired a new position in shares of Akebia Therapeutics during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $42,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 33.92% of the company’s stock.

Akebia Therapeutics Company Profile

Akebia Therapeutics, Inc, a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company headquartered in Cambridge, Massachusetts, is focused on the development and commercialization of therapies for patients with kidney disease. The company’s lead product candidate, vadadustat, is an investigational oral hypoxia-inducible factor prolyl hydroxylase inhibitor designed to treat anemia associated with chronic kidney disease in both dialysis-dependent and non-dialysis patients. Akebia’s research and development efforts also extend to preclinical programs targeting nephrology and related metabolic disorders.

Since its founding in 2007, Akebia has pursued strategic collaborations to advance its clinical pipeline and expand its market reach.