John P. Butler Sells 144,250 Shares of Akebia Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:AKBA) Stock

Akebia Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:AKBA) CEO John P. Butler sold 144,250 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $2.10, for a total value of $302,925.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 2,604,330 shares in the company, valued at $5,469,093. This trade represents a 5.25 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website.

Akebia Therapeutics Trading Up 1.4 %

Shares of NASDAQ AKBA opened at $2.17 on Thursday. Akebia Therapeutics, Inc. has a 12-month low of $0.80 and a 12-month high of $2.48. The company has a market cap of $473.45 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -9.43 and a beta of 0.74. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $2.00 and its 200 day simple moving average is $1.67.

Akebia Therapeutics (NASDAQ:AKBA) last announced its quarterly earnings results 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 firm had revenue of $37.43 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $45.66 million. During the same period last year, the business posted ($0.08) earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Akebia Therapeutics, Inc. will post -0.3 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Trading of Akebia Therapeutics

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Wealth Effects LLC increased its stake in shares of Akebia Therapeutics by 18.5% in the fourth quarter. Wealth Effects LLC now owns 32,000 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $61,000 after purchasing an additional 5,000 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its holdings in 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 in the last quarter. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in Akebia Therapeutics in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $26,000. MetLife Investment Management LLC raised its stake in Akebia Therapeutics by 25.7% during the 3rd quarter. MetLife Investment Management LLC now owns 68,064 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $90,000 after acquiring an additional 13,907 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Rhumbline Advisers boosted its position in Akebia Therapeutics by 9.3% during the 4th quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 265,389 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $504,000 after acquiring an additional 22,513 shares during the period. 33.92% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have weighed in on AKBA shares. HC Wainwright reissued a “buy” rating and set a $7.50 target price on shares of Akebia Therapeutics in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. StockNews.com lowered shares of Akebia Therapeutics from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 15th.

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.