Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. Cuts Stake in Akebia Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:AKBA)

Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. decreased its stake in Akebia Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:AKBA) by 1.9% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 1,026,896 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock after selling 19,795 shares during the period. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. owned approximately 0.47% of Akebia Therapeutics worth $1,951,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also modified their holdings of AKBA. Intech Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in Akebia Therapeutics during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $59,000. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company purchased a new stake in shares of Akebia Therapeutics during the third quarter valued at approximately $104,000. FMR LLC lifted its position in shares of Akebia Therapeutics by 26.0% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 682,038 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $900,000 after purchasing an additional 140,529 shares in the last quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets boosted its stake in shares of Akebia Therapeutics by 205.8% in the third quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 46,270 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $61,000 after purchasing an additional 31,137 shares during the period. Finally, MetLife Investment Management LLC grew its holdings 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 purchasing an additional 13,907 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 33.92% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Akebia Therapeutics news, CAO Richard C. Malabre sold 30,202 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on 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 in the company, valued at $588,520.80. The trade was a 9.73 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, SVP Steven Keith Burke sold 50,506 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 owns 816,234 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,714,091.40. The trade was a 5.83 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 280,579 shares of company stock valued at $589,216 in the last quarter. Insiders own 4.10% of the company’s stock.

Akebia Therapeutics Price Performance

NASDAQ AKBA opened at $2.55 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $556.36 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -11.09 and a beta of 0.94. Akebia Therapeutics, Inc. has a 12 month low of $0.80 and a 12 month high of $2.58. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $2.04 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $1.80.

Akebia Therapeutics (NASDAQ:AKBA) last issued 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 for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $37.36 million. As a group, analysts anticipate that Akebia Therapeutics, Inc. will post -0.3 EPS for the current year.

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.