Akebia Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:AKBA) Short Interest Update

Akebia Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:AKBA) was the recipient of a significant decrease in short interest in June. As of June 30th, there was short interest totaling 19,177,371 shares, a decrease of 34.3% from the June 15th total of 29,201,925 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 7,120,957 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 2.7 days. Currently, 7.5% of the shares of the stock are sold short.

Insider Activity at Akebia Therapeutics

In related news, CFO Erik Ostrowski sold 56,019 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $1.11, for a total transaction of $62,181.09. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 616,616 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $684,443.76. The trade was a 8.33% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Company insiders own 4.30% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Akebia Therapeutics

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in Akebia Therapeutics by 6.4% in the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 15,547,508 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $42,445,000 after purchasing an additional 936,042 shares during the period. State Street Corp boosted its position in Akebia Therapeutics by 15.6% in the fourth quarter. State Street Corp now owns 13,687,561 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $22,037,000 after purchasing an additional 1,842,792 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of Akebia Therapeutics by 1.5% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 6,277,177 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $10,108,000 after purchasing an additional 92,226 shares during the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Akebia Therapeutics by 166.2% in the 4th quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 4,706,437 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $7,577,000 after purchasing an additional 2,938,624 shares during the period. Finally, UBS Group AG raised its position in Akebia Therapeutics by 470.2% in the third quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 3,646,233 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $9,954,000 after acquiring an additional 3,006,771 shares during the period. 33.92% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts recently commented on the company. BTIG Research restated a “buy” rating and set a $4.00 target price on shares of Akebia Therapeutics in a research report on Tuesday, April 7th. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Akebia Therapeutics from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 7th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “sell (e+)” rating on shares of Akebia Therapeutics in a research note on Wednesday, May 6th. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Akebia Therapeutics from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Saturday, May 9th. Finally, HC Wainwright reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $6.00 price target on shares of Akebia Therapeutics in a research note on Wednesday, July 1st. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Akebia Therapeutics presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $4.67.

Akebia Therapeutics Stock Up 1.4%

Shares of NASDAQ AKBA opened at $1.40 on Friday. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $1.11 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $1.29. Akebia Therapeutics has a 12 month low of $0.82 and a 12 month high of $4.04. The company has a current ratio of 1.40, a quick ratio of 1.33 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.33. The firm has a market capitalization of $375.56 million, a PE ratio of -17.50 and a beta of 0.23.

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

About Akebia Therapeutics

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.