Akebia Therapeutics (NASDAQ:AKBA) Raised to Hold at StockNews.com

Akebia Therapeutics (NASDAQ:AKBA) was upgraded by analysts at StockNews.com from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report released on Tuesday.

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

Akebia Therapeutics Trading Down 3.8 %

Shares of AKBA stock opened at $1.79 on Tuesday. Akebia Therapeutics has a 12-month low of $0.80 and a 12-month high of $2.48. The company has a market capitalization of $390.54 million, a P/E ratio of -7.78 and a beta of 0.72. The business’s 50 day moving average is $1.90 and its two-hundred day moving average is $1.53.

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 company had revenue of $37.43 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $45.66 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted ($0.08) EPS. On average, research analysts predict that Akebia Therapeutics will post -0.24 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Trading of Akebia Therapeutics

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its holdings in shares of Akebia Therapeutics by 3,122.2% in the second quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 604,551 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $617,000 after purchasing an additional 585,789 shares during the period. Rhumbline Advisers boosted its holdings in Akebia Therapeutics by 4,915.4% in the 2nd quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 247,060 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $252,000 after purchasing an additional 242,134 shares during the last quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC grew its stake in shares of Akebia Therapeutics by 7.2% in the 2nd quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 3,914,800 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $3,993,000 after buying an additional 262,700 shares during the period. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV increased its holdings in shares of Akebia Therapeutics by 40.7% during the 2nd quarter. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV now owns 31,221 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $32,000 after buying an additional 9,037 shares during the last quarter. Finally, B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Akebia Therapeutics during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $44,000. 33.92% of the stock is 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.