Akebia Therapeutics’ (AKBA) “Buy” Rating Reaffirmed at HC Wainwright

Akebia Therapeutics (NASDAQ:AKBA)‘s stock had its “buy” rating restated by equities researchers at HC Wainwright in a research report issued to clients and investors on Friday,Benzinga reports. They currently have a $7.50 target price on the biopharmaceutical company’s stock. HC Wainwright’s price target would indicate a potential upside of 343.79% from the stock’s current price.

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

Akebia Therapeutics Stock Down 12.4 %

Shares of AKBA opened at $1.69 on Friday. Akebia Therapeutics has a fifty-two week low of $0.80 and a fifty-two week high of $2.48. The company’s fifty day moving average is $2.01 and its two-hundred day moving average is $1.78. The firm has a market cap of $368.73 million, a PE ratio of -7.35 and a beta of 0.94.

Akebia Therapeutics (NASDAQ:AKBA) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, March 13th. The biopharmaceutical company reported ($0.10) earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.05) by ($0.05). The company had revenue of $46.50 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $37.36 million. As a group, equities research 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 firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $2.10, for a total transaction of $106,062.60. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 816,234 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,714,091.40. This trade represents a 5.83 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CAO Richard C. Malabre sold 30,202 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $2.10, for a total value of $63,424.20. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 280,248 shares in the company, valued at $588,520.80. This trade represents a 9.73 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 280,579 shares of company stock worth $589,216. 4.10% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in Akebia Therapeutics in the 4th quarter valued at about $26,000. PDS Planning Inc acquired a new position in shares of Akebia Therapeutics in the fourth quarter worth about $28,000. Mariner LLC purchased a new position in Akebia Therapeutics in the fourth quarter valued at about $28,000. Cibc World Markets Corp purchased a new position in Akebia Therapeutics in the fourth quarter valued at about $37,000. Finally, Aquatic Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in Akebia Therapeutics during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $47,000. 33.92% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.