Akebia Therapeutics (NASDAQ:AKBA) Downgraded to Sell Rating by StockNews.com

StockNews.com cut shares of Akebia Therapeutics (NASDAQ:AKBA) from a hold rating to a sell rating in a report issued on Thursday.

Separately, HC Wainwright reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $7.50 price objective on shares of Akebia Therapeutics in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd.

Akebia Therapeutics Stock Up 1.7 %

Shares of NASDAQ AKBA opened at $1.82 on Thursday. Akebia Therapeutics has a 52-week low of $0.80 and a 52-week high of $2.48. The stock has a market capitalization of $397.09 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -7.91 and a beta of 0.74. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $1.54 and its 200 day simple moving average is $1.34.

Akebia Therapeutics (NASDAQ:AKBA) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, November 7th. The biopharmaceutical company reported ($0.10) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.04) by ($0.06). The business had revenue of $37.43 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $45.66 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted ($0.08) EPS. As a group, analysts anticipate that Akebia Therapeutics will post -0.24 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Akebia Therapeutics

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of AKBA. State Street Corp increased its holdings in shares of Akebia Therapeutics by 24.9% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 3,430,527 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $4,528,000 after purchasing an additional 683,287 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in Akebia Therapeutics by 8.1% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 8,225,972 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $15,054,000 after buying an additional 618,500 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its position in Akebia Therapeutics by 3,122.2% in the 2nd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 604,551 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $617,000 after buying an additional 585,789 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP acquired a new stake in shares of Akebia Therapeutics during the 3rd quarter valued at $534,000. Finally, Renaissance Technologies LLC grew its holdings in shares of Akebia Therapeutics by 7.2% during the 2nd quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 3,914,800 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $3,993,000 after acquiring an additional 262,700 shares in the last quarter. 33.92% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.