BlackRock Inc. Makes New Investment in Akebia Therapeutics, Inc. $AKBA

BlackRock Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Akebia Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:AKBA) in the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 19,986,374 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock, valued at approximately $22,784,000. BlackRock Inc. owned approximately 0.07% of Akebia Therapeutics at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in AKBA. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Akebia Therapeutics by 6.4% during the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 15,547,508 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $42,445,000 after acquiring an additional 936,042 shares during the period. State Street Corp boosted its stake in Akebia Therapeutics by 15.6% in the 4th 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 period. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Akebia Therapeutics by 1.5% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 6,277,177 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $10,108,000 after purchasing an additional 92,226 shares during the period. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. grew its position in Akebia Therapeutics by 166.2% during 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 in the last quarter. Finally, UBS Group AG raised its stake in Akebia Therapeutics by 470.2% during the 3rd quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 3,646,233 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $9,954,000 after purchasing an additional 3,006,771 shares during the period. 33.92% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Akebia Therapeutics Stock Up 3.8%

Akebia Therapeutics stock opened at $0.98 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $271.65 million, a PE ratio of -8.91 and a beta of 0.19. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.99, a quick ratio of 1.35 and a current ratio of 1.43. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $1.13 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $1.20. Akebia Therapeutics, Inc. has a twelve month low of $0.81 and a twelve month high of $3.20.

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

Insider Activity

In related news, CFO Erik Ostrowski sold 56,019 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, June 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $1.11, for a total transaction of $62,181.09. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 616,616 shares in the company, valued at approximately $684,443.76. This trade represents 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. Corporate insiders own 4.30% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

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

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.