Erik Ostrowski Sells 56,019 Shares of Akebia Therapeutics (NASDAQ:AKBA) Stock

Akebia Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:AKBA) CFO Erik Ostrowski sold 56,019 shares of Akebia Therapeutics stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $1.11, for a total value of $62,181.09. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 616,616 shares in the company, valued at $684,443.76. This trade represents a 8.33% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards.

Akebia Therapeutics Price Performance

Shares of Akebia Therapeutics stock opened at $1.24 on Friday. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $1.11 and a 200 day moving average of $1.31. Akebia Therapeutics, Inc. has a 12 month low of $0.82 and a 12 month high of $4.08. The firm has a market cap of $332.64 million, a PE ratio of -15.50 and a beta of 0.23. The company has a current ratio of 1.40, a quick ratio of 1.33 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.33.

Akebia Therapeutics (NASDAQ:AKBA) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 7th. The biopharmaceutical company reported ($0.03) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.01) by ($0.02). The firm had revenue of $53.54 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $51.67 million. Akebia Therapeutics had a negative return on equity of 62.72% and a negative net margin of 8.83%. On average, research analysts expect that Akebia Therapeutics, Inc. will post -0.1 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Baird Financial Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Akebia Therapeutics by 23.0% in the first quarter. Baird Financial Group Inc. now owns 21,393 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $41,000 after acquiring an additional 4,000 shares during the period. AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Akebia Therapeutics by 13.1% during the 1st quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 176,961 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $340,000 after purchasing an additional 20,499 shares during the period. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. grew its holdings in Akebia Therapeutics by 9.1% during the 1st quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 137,897 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $265,000 after purchasing an additional 11,517 shares during the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. grew its holdings in Akebia Therapeutics by 171.8% during the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 2,724,439 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $5,231,000 after purchasing an additional 1,722,245 shares during the last quarter. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its position in Akebia Therapeutics by 123.0% in the 2nd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 1,652,746 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $6,016,000 after purchasing an additional 911,585 shares during the period. 33.92% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have commented on AKBA. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Akebia Therapeutics from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Saturday, May 9th. HC Wainwright restated a “buy” rating and set a $6.00 target price on shares of Akebia Therapeutics in a research report on Wednesday. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “sell (e+)” rating on shares of Akebia Therapeutics in a report on Wednesday, May 6th. Zacks Research lowered Akebia Therapeutics from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 6th. Finally, BTIG Research reissued a “buy” rating and set a $4.00 price objective on shares of Akebia Therapeutics in a research note on Tuesday, April 7th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $4.67.

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.