Akebia Therapeutics (NASDAQ:AKBA) Stock Rating Lowered by Leerink Partners

Akebia Therapeutics (NASDAQ:AKBA) was downgraded by equities researchers at Leerink Partners from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research report issued to clients and investors on Friday. They presently have a $1.00 target price on the biopharmaceutical company’s stock. Leerink Partners’ price objective would suggest a potential upside of 4.78% from the company’s previous close.

Several other analysts have also weighed in on the company. Weiss Ratings reissued a “sell (e+)” rating on shares of Akebia Therapeutics in a report on Monday. Zacks Research raised Akebia Therapeutics from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 7th. HC Wainwright reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Akebia Therapeutics in a research report on Thursday. Finally, Wall Street Zen downgraded Akebia Therapeutics from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Saturday, May 9th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Akebia Therapeutics presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $3.75.

Akebia Therapeutics Price Performance

Shares of AKBA stock opened at $0.95 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $256.03 million, a P/E ratio of -8.68 and a beta of 0.26. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.33, a current ratio of 1.40 and a quick ratio of 1.33. Akebia Therapeutics has a 1-year low of $0.82 and a 1-year high of $3.44. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $1.17 and a two-hundred day moving average of $1.27.

Akebia Therapeutics (NASDAQ:AKBA) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, August 5th. The biopharmaceutical company reported ($0.02) earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.04) by $0.02. The company had revenue of $49.13 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $48.85 million. Akebia Therapeutics had a negative net margin of 13.54% and a negative return on equity of 83.08%. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Akebia Therapeutics will post -0.1 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Akebia Therapeutics

In other news, CFO Erik Ostrowski sold 56,019 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $1.11, for a total transaction of $62,181.09. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 616,616 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $684,443.76. This represents a 8.33% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Company insiders own 4.30% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Cibc World Markets Corp acquired a new stake in Akebia Therapeutics in the fourth quarter worth $27,000. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd boosted its holdings in shares of Akebia Therapeutics by 697.8% during the fourth quarter. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd now owns 20,622 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $33,000 after acquiring an additional 18,037 shares during the period. Caption Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Akebia Therapeutics during the fourth quarter worth about $40,000. Baird Financial Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Akebia Therapeutics by 23.0% during the first quarter. Baird Financial Group Inc. now owns 21,393 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $41,000 after acquiring an additional 4,000 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Polymer Capital Management US LLC increased its holdings in shares of Akebia Therapeutics by 49.5% in the 3rd quarter. Polymer Capital Management US LLC now owns 18,232 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $50,000 after acquiring an additional 6,034 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 33.92% of the company’s stock.

About Akebia Therapeutics

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.