Akebia Therapeutics’ (AKBA) “Buy” Rating Reaffirmed at HC Wainwright

HC Wainwright reissued their buy rating on shares of Akebia Therapeutics (NASDAQ:AKBA) in a research note published on Thursday,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a $7.50 price target on the biopharmaceutical company’s stock.

Separately, StockNews.com downgraded shares of Akebia Therapeutics from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 15th.

Akebia Therapeutics Stock Performance

AKBA opened at $2.39 on Thursday. Akebia Therapeutics has a 1-year low of $0.80 and a 1-year high of $2.48. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $1.93 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $1.61. The company has a market capitalization of $521.45 million, a PE ratio of -10.39 and a beta of 0.72.

Akebia Therapeutics (NASDAQ:AKBA) last released its earnings results on Thursday, November 7th. The biopharmaceutical company reported ($0.10) EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.04) by ($0.06). The business had revenue of $37.43 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $45.66 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted ($0.08) EPS. Equities analysts forecast that Akebia Therapeutics will post -0.3 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Akebia Therapeutics

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Wealth Effects LLC lifted its position in Akebia Therapeutics by 18.5% in the fourth quarter. Wealth Effects LLC now owns 32,000 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $61,000 after buying an additional 5,000 shares during the last quarter. AlphaMark Advisors LLC bought a new position in Akebia Therapeutics in the fourth quarter worth approximately $73,000. SG Americas Securities LLC grew its position in shares of Akebia Therapeutics by 62.3% during the 4th quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 116,771 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $222,000 after buying an additional 44,806 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its position in Akebia Therapeutics by 10.9% during the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 98,546 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $130,000 after purchasing an additional 9,662 shares during the period. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. purchased a new position in Akebia Therapeutics during the third quarter valued at approximately $221,000. 33.92% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.