Akebia Therapeutics (NASDAQ:AKBA) Coverage Initiated at Jefferies Financial Group

Jefferies Financial Group assumed coverage on shares of Akebia Therapeutics (NASDAQ:AKBA) in a research note issued to investors on Tuesday, Marketbeat reports. The firm issued a buy rating and a $6.00 target price on the biopharmaceutical company’s stock.

AKBA has been the topic of a number of other reports. HC Wainwright restated a “buy” rating and issued a $7.50 price target on shares of Akebia Therapeutics in a research note on Friday, March 14th. StockNews.com upgraded Akebia Therapeutics from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, March 17th. Finally, Piper Sandler increased their price target on shares of Akebia Therapeutics from $4.00 to $6.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, March 14th.

Akebia Therapeutics Price Performance

AKBA stock opened at $1.91 on Tuesday. The business’s 50-day moving average is $2.07 and its two-hundred day moving average is $1.85. The firm has a market capitalization of $451.20 million, a P/E ratio of -8.30 and a beta of 0.94. Akebia Therapeutics has a 1 year low of $0.80 and a 1 year high of $2.89.

Akebia Therapeutics (NASDAQ:AKBA) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, March 13th. The biopharmaceutical company reported ($0.10) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.05) by ($0.05). The company had revenue of $46.50 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $37.36 million. On average, analysts expect that Akebia Therapeutics will post -0.3 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity at Akebia Therapeutics

In related news, SVP Steven Keith Burke sold 50,506 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, February 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $2.10, for a total transaction of $106,062.60. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 816,234 shares in the company, valued at $1,714,091.40. This represents a 5.83 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO John P. Butler sold 144,250 shares of Akebia Therapeutics stock in a transaction on Monday, February 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $2.10, for a total transaction of $302,925.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 2,604,330 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,469,093. This represents a 5.25 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 280,579 shares of company stock valued at $589,216 in the last three months. 4.10% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Akebia Therapeutics

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Akebia Therapeutics in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $26,000. PDS Planning Inc acquired a new position in shares of Akebia Therapeutics in the 4th quarter valued at $28,000. Mariner LLC acquired a new position in Akebia Therapeutics in the fourth quarter valued at $28,000. Cibc World Markets Corp purchased a new stake in Akebia Therapeutics during the fourth quarter valued at about $37,000. Finally, Aquatic Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in Akebia Therapeutics during the fourth quarter worth about $47,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.