Akebia Therapeutics (NASDAQ:AKBA) Hits New 52-Week High – What’s Next?

Shares of Akebia Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:AKBA) reached a new 52-week high during trading on Tuesday . The company traded as high as $2.50 and last traded at $2.47, with a volume of 2161320 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $2.40.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

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

Akebia Therapeutics Stock Performance

The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $2.03 and its 200-day moving average price is $1.79. The company has a market capitalization of $546.76 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -10.98 and a beta of 0.94.

Akebia Therapeutics (NASDAQ:AKBA) last released its 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 business had revenue of $46.50 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $37.36 million. Analysts anticipate that Akebia Therapeutics, Inc. will post -0.3 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity at Akebia Therapeutics

In related news, CAO Richard C. Malabre sold 30,202 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $2.10, for a total transaction of $63,424.20. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 280,248 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $588,520.80. This represents a 9.73 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Steven Keith Burke sold 50,506 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $2.10, for a total transaction of $106,062.60. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 816,234 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,714,091.40. This represents a 5.83 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 280,579 shares of company stock worth $589,216. 4.10% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in Akebia Therapeutics by 8.1% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 10,884,200 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $20,680,000 after purchasing an additional 813,902 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Akebia Therapeutics by 0.9% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 4,795,095 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $9,112,000 after acquiring an additional 40,631 shares during the period. Renaissance Technologies LLC lifted its stake in shares of Akebia Therapeutics by 2.8% in the 4th quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 3,823,527 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $7,265,000 after acquiring an additional 105,727 shares during the period. State Street Corp lifted its stake 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 worth $4,528,000 after acquiring an additional 683,287 shares during the period. Finally, Northern Trust Corp lifted its stake in shares of Akebia Therapeutics by 3.1% in the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 1,685,641 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $3,203,000 after acquiring an additional 50,542 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 33.92% of the company’s stock.

Akebia Therapeutics Company Profile

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.