Akebia Therapeutics (NASDAQ:AKBA) Upgraded to “Strong-Buy” at Leerink Partnrs

Akebia Therapeutics (NASDAQ:AKBA) was upgraded by Leerink Partnrs to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report issued to clients and investors on Monday,Zacks.com reports.

Several other research firms also recently commented on AKBA. Piper Sandler upped their price objective on Akebia Therapeutics from $4.00 to $6.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, March 14th. StockNews.com cut Akebia Therapeutics from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Friday, April 25th. HC Wainwright reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $7.50 price objective on shares of Akebia Therapeutics in a research report on Friday, April 4th. Jefferies Financial Group started coverage on shares of Akebia Therapeutics in a research report on Tuesday, April 1st. They set a “buy” rating and a $6.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Leerink Partners began coverage on shares of Akebia Therapeutics in a research note on Monday. They set an “outperform” rating and a $7.00 price target on the stock. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Akebia Therapeutics currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $6.63.

Akebia Therapeutics Stock Performance

AKBA stock opened at $2.43 on Monday. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $1.97 and a 200-day simple moving average of $1.93. The company has a market capitalization of $574.04 million, a P/E ratio of -10.56 and a beta of 0.87. Akebia Therapeutics has a twelve month low of $0.80 and a twelve month high of $2.89.

Akebia Therapeutics (NASDAQ:AKBA) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, March 13th. The biopharmaceutical company reported ($0.10) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.05) by ($0.05). The business had revenue of $46.50 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $37.36 million. Research analysts predict that Akebia Therapeutics will post -0.3 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Akebia Therapeutics

In other Akebia Therapeutics news, CAO Richard C. Malabre sold 30,202 shares of Akebia Therapeutics stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $2.10, for a total transaction of $63,424.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 280,248 shares in the company, valued at approximately $588,520.80. The trade was a 9.73 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, SVP Steven Keith Burke sold 50,506 shares of the firm’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 transaction of $106,062.60. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 816,234 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,714,091.40. This trade represents a 5.83 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 280,579 shares of company stock valued at $589,216. Corporate insiders own 4.10% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Akebia Therapeutics

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in Akebia Therapeutics during the 4th quarter worth about $26,000. PDS Planning Inc purchased a new stake in shares of Akebia Therapeutics during the fourth quarter worth about $28,000. Mariner LLC purchased a new position in shares of Akebia Therapeutics during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Unified Investment Management boosted its position in Akebia Therapeutics by 47.8% during the first quarter. Unified Investment Management now owns 17,000 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $33,000 after acquiring an additional 5,500 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Cibc World Markets Corp purchased a new stake in Akebia Therapeutics in the 4th quarter worth approximately $37,000. 33.92% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Akebia Therapeutics

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.