Akebia Therapeutics (NASDAQ:AKBA) Cut to Sell at StockNews.com

StockNews.com lowered shares of Akebia Therapeutics (NASDAQ:AKBA) from a hold rating to a sell rating in a report issued on Wednesday.

Separately, HC Wainwright reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $7.50 price objective on shares of Akebia Therapeutics in a research note on Tuesday.

Akebia Therapeutics Price Performance

Shares of AKBA stock opened at $2.07 on Wednesday. Akebia Therapeutics has a 1-year low of $0.80 and a 1-year high of $2.48. The company has a market cap of $451.63 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -9.00 and a beta of 0.72. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $1.91 and a 200-day simple moving average of $1.57.

Akebia Therapeutics (NASDAQ:AKBA) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, November 7th. The biopharmaceutical company reported ($0.10) earnings per share 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 period in the previous year, the company earned ($0.08) EPS. Analysts anticipate that Akebia Therapeutics will post -0.26 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Akebia Therapeutics

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its stake in Akebia Therapeutics by 3,122.2% during the 2nd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 604,551 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $617,000 after acquiring an additional 585,789 shares in the last quarter. Rhumbline Advisers increased its holdings in shares of Akebia Therapeutics by 4,915.4% in the second quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 247,060 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $252,000 after purchasing an additional 242,134 shares during the last quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC lifted its position in Akebia Therapeutics by 7.2% during the second quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 3,914,800 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $3,993,000 after buying an additional 262,700 shares in the last quarter. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV boosted its stake in Akebia Therapeutics by 40.7% during the second quarter. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV now owns 31,221 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $32,000 after buying an additional 9,037 shares during the last quarter. Finally, B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in Akebia Therapeutics in the 2nd quarter valued at $44,000. Hedge funds and other 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.