Akebia Therapeutics (NASDAQ:AKBA) Stock Crosses Below Two Hundred Day Moving Average – Time to Sell?

Akebia Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:AKBA)’s stock price crossed below its two hundred day moving average during trading on Monday . The stock has a two hundred day moving average of $1.95 and traded as low as $1.46. Akebia Therapeutics shares last traded at $1.51, with a volume of 2,976,098 shares trading hands.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts recently issued reports on AKBA shares. HC Wainwright reissued a “buy” rating and set a $6.00 price target on shares of Akebia Therapeutics in a report on Friday, February 6th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Akebia Therapeutics in a report on Wednesday, January 21st. Zacks Research downgraded shares of Akebia Therapeutics from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 26th. BTIG Research lowered their target price on shares of Akebia Therapeutics from $5.00 to $4.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, February 25th. Finally, Piper Sandler dropped their target price on Akebia Therapeutics from $6.00 to $4.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, February 6th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have given a Buy rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Akebia Therapeutics has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $5.40.

Akebia Therapeutics Trading Up 3.4%

The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $1.36 and its 200-day simple moving average is $1.95. The firm has a market capitalization of $404.50 million, a PE ratio of -75.46 and a beta of 0.39. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.48, a current ratio of 1.55 and a quick ratio of 1.46.

Akebia Therapeutics (NASDAQ:AKBA) last released its earnings results on Thursday, February 26th. The biopharmaceutical company reported ($0.05) EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.03) by ($0.02). Akebia Therapeutics had a negative return on equity of 16.70% and a negative net margin of 2.26%.The company had revenue of $57.62 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $48.37 million. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Akebia Therapeutics, Inc. will post -0.3 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other Akebia Therapeutics news, CAO Richard C. Malabre sold 49,524 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $1.39, for a total transaction of $68,838.36. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer directly owned 299,390 shares in the company, valued at approximately $416,152.10. The trade was a 14.19% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO John P. Butler bought 69,270 shares of Akebia Therapeutics stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 4th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $1.25 per share, with a total value of $86,587.50. Following the acquisition, the chief executive officer directly owned 3,367,064 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,208,830. The trade was a 2.10% increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase is available in the SEC filing. Insiders own 3.00% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Akebia Therapeutics

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. UBS Group AG raised its stake in Akebia Therapeutics by 470.2% in the 3rd quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 3,646,233 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $9,954,000 after purchasing an additional 3,006,771 shares during the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. boosted its stake in Akebia Therapeutics by 166.2% during the 4th quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 4,706,437 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $7,577,000 after purchasing an additional 2,938,624 shares during the last quarter. MPM Bioimpact LLC acquired a new stake in Akebia Therapeutics during the 2nd quarter worth $10,516,000. Invesco Ltd. grew its holdings in shares of Akebia Therapeutics by 528.1% during the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 2,400,757 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $6,554,000 after buying an additional 2,018,547 shares in the last quarter. Finally, State Street Corp raised its position in shares of Akebia Therapeutics by 15.6% in the fourth quarter. State Street Corp now owns 13,687,561 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $22,037,000 after buying an additional 1,842,792 shares during the last quarter. 33.92% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Akebia Therapeutics Company Profile

Akebia Therapeutics, Inc, a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company headquartered in Cambridge, Massachusetts, is focused on the development and commercialization of therapies for patients with kidney disease. The company’s lead product candidate, vadadustat, is an investigational oral hypoxia-inducible factor prolyl hydroxylase inhibitor designed to treat anemia associated with chronic kidney disease in both dialysis-dependent and non-dialysis patients. Akebia’s research and development efforts also extend to preclinical programs targeting nephrology and related metabolic disorders.

Since its founding in 2007, Akebia has pursued strategic collaborations to advance its clinical pipeline and expand its market reach.