Akebia Therapeutics (NASDAQ:AKBA) Sees Large Volume Increase – Here’s What Happened

Akebia Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:AKBA) saw strong trading volume on Tuesday . 3,814,741 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, an increase of 23% from the previous session’s volume of 3,113,107 shares.The stock last traded at $3.83 and had previously closed at $3.83.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts recently commented on the stock. Piper Sandler boosted their price objective on shares of Akebia Therapeutics from $4.00 to $6.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, March 14th. Leerink Partnrs upgraded Akebia Therapeutics to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, April 28th. Jefferies Financial Group started coverage on Akebia Therapeutics in a research note on Tuesday, April 1st. They set a “buy” rating and a $6.00 target price on the stock. Wall Street Zen raised Akebia Therapeutics from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, May 3rd. Finally, HC Wainwright initiated coverage on Akebia Therapeutics in a report on Wednesday, June 4th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $8.00 price target for the company. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, four have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $6.75.

Akebia Therapeutics Stock Down 0.7%

The company’s 50 day moving average price is $2.48 and its 200 day moving average price is $2.17. The firm has a market capitalization of $999.33 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -16.54 and a beta of 0.85.

Akebia Therapeutics (NASDAQ:AKBA) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 8th. The biopharmaceutical company reported $0.03 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.03) by $0.06. The firm had revenue of $57.34 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $44.88 million. As a group, analysts expect that Akebia Therapeutics, Inc. will post -0.3 earnings per share for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CAO Richard C. Malabre sold 13,334 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, June 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $3.53, for a total value of $47,069.02. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 266,914 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $942,206.42. This represents a 4.76% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. 3.00% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Bank of America Corp DE grew its position in Akebia Therapeutics by 117.9% during the 4th quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 543,916 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $1,033,000 after purchasing an additional 294,343 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its position in Akebia Therapeutics by 24.1% during the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 502,127 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $954,000 after acquiring an additional 97,409 shares in the last quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. lifted its holdings in Akebia Therapeutics by 10.7% in the fourth quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 126,380 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $240,000 after acquiring an additional 12,232 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in Akebia Therapeutics by 0.9% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 4,795,095 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $9,112,000 after purchasing an additional 40,631 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Deutsche Bank AG grew its stake in shares of Akebia Therapeutics by 64.0% during the 4th quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 181,048 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $344,000 after purchasing an additional 70,663 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 33.92% of the company’s stock.

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.