Akebia Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:AKBA) Receives $6.75 Consensus Price Target from Analysts

Akebia Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:AKBA) has been assigned an average recommendation of “Buy” from the five brokerages that are presently covering the company, Marketbeat.com reports. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a buy recommendation and one has issued a strong buy recommendation on the company. The average 12-month price objective among brokerages that have covered the stock in the last year is $6.75.

AKBA has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Piper Sandler upped their target price on Akebia Therapeutics from $4.00 to $6.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, March 14th. Wall Street Zen upgraded Akebia Therapeutics from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, May 3rd. Leerink Partnrs upgraded Akebia Therapeutics to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, April 28th. HC Wainwright initiated coverage on Akebia Therapeutics in a research report on Wednesday, June 4th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $8.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group initiated coverage on Akebia Therapeutics in a research report on Tuesday, April 1st. They issued a “buy” rating and a $6.00 target price on the stock.

Akebia Therapeutics Stock Performance

Shares of Akebia Therapeutics stock opened at $3.68 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $966.52 million, a PE ratio of -17.52 and a beta of 0.85. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.89, a quick ratio of 2.02 and a current ratio of 2.23. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $2.89 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $2.29. Akebia Therapeutics has a one year low of $0.80 and a one year high of $4.08.

Akebia Therapeutics (NASDAQ:AKBA) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 8th. The biopharmaceutical company reported $0.03 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.03) by $0.06. The business had revenue of $57.34 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $44.88 million. Research analysts expect that Akebia Therapeutics will post -0.3 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Akebia Therapeutics

In other news, CAO Richard C. Malabre sold 13,334 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, June 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $3.53, for a total transaction of $47,069.02. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 266,914 shares in the company, valued at approximately $942,206.42. This represents a 4.76% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 3.00% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Akebia Therapeutics

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Baird Financial Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Akebia Therapeutics by 23.0% during the 1st 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. Unified Investment Management boosted its holdings in Akebia Therapeutics by 47.8% during the 1st quarter. Unified Investment Management now owns 17,000 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $33,000 after acquiring an additional 5,500 shares during the period. E Fund Management Co. Ltd. raised its position in Akebia Therapeutics by 51.9% in the 1st quarter. E Fund Management Co. Ltd. now owns 19,311 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $37,000 after purchasing an additional 6,595 shares in the last quarter. TD Waterhouse Canada Inc. raised its position in Akebia Therapeutics by 8.8% in the 4th quarter. TD Waterhouse Canada Inc. now owns 98,618 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $187,000 after purchasing an additional 8,000 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD raised its position in Akebia Therapeutics by 8.9% in the 4th quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 137,905 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $263,000 after purchasing an additional 11,257 shares in the last quarter. 33.92% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.