Akebia Therapeutics (NASDAQ:AKBA) Lowered to “Market Perform” Rating by Leerink Partners

Leerink Partners downgraded shares of Akebia Therapeutics (NASDAQ:AKBA) from an outperform rating to a market perform rating in a research note issued to investors on Friday, Marketbeat reports. Leerink Partners currently has $1.00 price objective on the biopharmaceutical company’s stock.

Several other analysts also recently weighed in on AKBA. HC Wainwright restated a “buy” rating on shares of Akebia Therapeutics in a research note on Thursday. Wall Street Zen lowered Akebia Therapeutics from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Saturday, May 9th. Zacks Research raised Akebia Therapeutics from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 7th. Finally, Weiss Ratings restated a “sell (e+)” rating on shares of Akebia Therapeutics in a research note on Monday. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $3.75.

Akebia Therapeutics Stock Down 4.7%

Akebia Therapeutics stock opened at $0.91 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $244.09 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -8.27 and a beta of 0.26. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.99, a current ratio of 1.43 and a quick ratio of 1.33. Akebia Therapeutics has a fifty-two week low of $0.82 and a fifty-two week high of $3.44. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $1.16 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $1.26.

Akebia Therapeutics (NASDAQ:AKBA) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 5th. The biopharmaceutical company reported ($0.02) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.04) by $0.02. The company had revenue of $49.13 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $48.85 million. Akebia Therapeutics had a negative return on equity of 88.88% and a negative net margin of 13.54%. As a group, analysts forecast that Akebia Therapeutics will post -0.1 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Akebia Therapeutics news, CFO Erik Ostrowski sold 56,019 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 transaction, the chief financial officer owned 616,616 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $684,443.76. This represents a 8.33% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. 4.30% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of AKBA. Baird Financial Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Akebia Therapeutics by 23.0% in the 1st quarter. Baird Financial Group Inc. now owns 21,393 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $41,000 after buying an additional 4,000 shares in the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc boosted its position in shares of Akebia Therapeutics by 26.0% during the 2nd quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 23,279 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $85,000 after acquiring an additional 4,798 shares in the last quarter. Polymer Capital Management US LLC increased its stake in Akebia Therapeutics by 49.5% in the third quarter. Polymer Capital Management US LLC now owns 18,232 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $50,000 after acquiring an additional 6,034 shares during the period. Deutsche Bank AG raised its position in Akebia Therapeutics by 5.2% in the fourth quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 164,655 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $265,000 after purchasing an additional 8,103 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. raised its position in Akebia Therapeutics by 16.8% in the second quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. now owns 59,502 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $217,000 after purchasing an additional 8,568 shares in the last quarter. 33.92% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.