Akebia Therapeutics (NASDAQ:AKBA) Downgraded by StockNews.com to Sell

StockNews.com downgraded shares of Akebia Therapeutics (NASDAQ:AKBA) from a hold rating to a sell rating in a report released on Thursday.

Separately, HC Wainwright restated a “buy” rating and set a $7.50 price objective on shares of Akebia Therapeutics in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd.

Akebia Therapeutics Trading Up 3.3 %

Shares of NASDAQ AKBA opened at $1.88 on Thursday. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $1.55 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $1.34. Akebia Therapeutics has a 12 month low of $0.80 and a 12 month high of $2.48. The company has a market cap of $410.18 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -8.17 and a beta of 0.74.

Akebia Therapeutics (NASDAQ:AKBA) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, November 7th. The biopharmaceutical company reported ($0.10) EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.04) by ($0.06). The company had revenue of $37.43 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $45.66 million. During the same period last year, the firm posted ($0.08) earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Akebia Therapeutics will post -0.24 earnings per share for the current year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Akebia Therapeutics

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of AKBA. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV grew its stake in shares of Akebia Therapeutics by 40.7% in the second quarter. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV now owns 31,221 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $32,000 after purchasing an additional 9,037 shares during the last quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC bought a new stake in shares of Akebia Therapeutics in the 2nd quarter valued at about $34,000. Empirical Asset Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Akebia Therapeutics in the third quarter valued at about $44,000. B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. bought a new position in shares of Akebia Therapeutics during the second quarter worth about $44,000. Finally, XTX Topco Ltd acquired a new position in shares of Akebia Therapeutics in the third quarter worth approximately $58,000. Institutional investors own 33.92% of the company’s stock.

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.