Nantahala Capital Management LLC Takes Position in Akebia Therapeutics, Inc. $AKBA

Nantahala Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in Akebia Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:AKBA) in the second quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund bought 2,000,000 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,280,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio acquired a new position in Akebia Therapeutics during the second quarter worth approximately $336,000. Bank of America Corp DE acquired a new stake in shares of Akebia Therapeutics in the second quarter valued at approximately $523,000. Man Group plc acquired a new stake in shares of Akebia Therapeutics in the second quarter valued at approximately $177,000. Hsbc Holdings PLC purchased a new position in shares of Akebia Therapeutics during the second quarter worth approximately $27,000. Finally, Canada Pension Plan Investment Board purchased a new position in shares of Akebia Therapeutics during the second quarter worth approximately $369,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 33.92% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts recently commented on the stock. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Akebia Therapeutics from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 7th. HC Wainwright reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Akebia Therapeutics in a research report on Thursday, August 6th. Leerink Partners lowered shares of Akebia Therapeutics from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and set a $1.00 price objective on the stock. in a research note on Friday, August 7th. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Akebia Therapeutics from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Saturday, May 9th. Finally, Weiss Ratings raised Akebia Therapeutics from a “sell (e+)” rating to a “sell (d-)” rating in a report on Monday, August 17th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $3.75.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CFO Erik Ostrowski sold 56,019 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, June 29th. The shares were 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 owned 616,616 shares in the company, valued at approximately $684,443.76. This trade represents a 8.33% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Insiders own 4.30% of the company’s stock.

Akebia Therapeutics Price Performance

Akebia Therapeutics stock opened at $0.88 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.99, a current ratio of 1.43 and a quick ratio of 1.35. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $1.14 and a 200-day simple moving average of $1.21. Akebia Therapeutics, Inc. has a 12 month low of $0.81 and a 12 month high of $3.22. The stock has a market capitalization of $243.47 million, a PE ratio of -7.99 and a beta of 0.26.

Akebia Therapeutics (NASDAQ:AKBA) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 5th. The biopharmaceutical company reported ($0.02) earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.04) by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $49.13 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $48.85 million. Akebia Therapeutics had a negative net margin of 13.54% and a negative return on equity of 88.88%. Equities analysts predict that Akebia Therapeutics, Inc. will post -0.14 earnings per share for the current year.

Akebia Therapeutics 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.