Akebia Therapeutics (NASDAQ:AKBA) Shares Up 11.2% – Here’s What Happened

Akebia Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:AKBA)’s stock price traded up 11.2% during trading on Wednesday . The stock traded as high as $2.74 and last traded at $2.84. 1,677,125 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 44% from the average session volume of 2,995,445 shares. The stock had previously closed at $2.55.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have weighed in on AKBA. Piper Sandler raised their price target on Akebia Therapeutics from $4.00 to $6.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, March 14th. HC Wainwright reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $7.50 target price on shares of Akebia Therapeutics in a research report on Friday, March 14th. Finally, StockNews.com raised Akebia Therapeutics from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday.

Akebia Therapeutics Stock Performance

The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $2.04 and its 200-day simple moving average is $1.80. The company has a market capitalization of $620.72 million, a PE ratio of -12.33 and a beta of 0.94.

Akebia Therapeutics (NASDAQ:AKBA) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, March 13th. The biopharmaceutical company reported ($0.10) EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.05) by ($0.05). The firm had revenue of $46.50 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $37.36 million. Analysts expect that Akebia Therapeutics, Inc. will post -0.3 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, SVP Steven Keith Burke sold 50,506 shares of Akebia Therapeutics stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $2.10, for a total transaction of $106,062.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 816,234 shares in the company, valued at $1,714,091.40. The trade was a 5.83 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CAO Richard C. Malabre sold 30,202 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, February 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $2.10, for a total value of $63,424.20. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 280,248 shares in the company, valued at approximately $588,520.80. The trade was a 9.73 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 280,579 shares of company stock valued at $589,216 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 4.10% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Akebia Therapeutics

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Wealth Effects LLC increased its stake in shares of Akebia Therapeutics by 18.5% during the 4th quarter. Wealth Effects LLC now owns 32,000 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $61,000 after acquiring an additional 5,000 shares during the last quarter. TD Waterhouse Canada Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Akebia Therapeutics by 8.8% during the 4th quarter. TD Waterhouse Canada Inc. now owns 98,618 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $187,000 after buying an additional 8,000 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its position in shares of Akebia Therapeutics by 10.9% in the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 98,546 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $130,000 after buying an additional 9,662 shares during the period. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its holdings in Akebia Therapeutics by 8.9% in the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 137,905 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $263,000 after acquiring an additional 11,257 shares during the last quarter. Finally, MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. grew its position in Akebia Therapeutics by 10.7% during the fourth quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 126,380 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $240,000 after acquiring an additional 12,232 shares during the period. 33.92% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.