Akebia Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:AKBA) Given Average Recommendation of “Hold” by Brokerages

Shares of Akebia Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:AKBA) have received an average rating of “Hold” from the five ratings firms that are currently covering the company, Marketbeat.com reports. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation and three have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12 month price target among brokerages that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $4.6667.

A number of analysts recently commented on AKBA shares. Zacks Research cut shares of Akebia Therapeutics from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 6th. HC Wainwright reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $6.00 target price on shares of Akebia Therapeutics in a report on Friday, February 6th. BTIG Research reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $4.00 target price on shares of Akebia Therapeutics in a report on Tuesday, April 7th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “sell (e+)” rating on shares of Akebia Therapeutics in a report on Wednesday, May 6th. Finally, Piper Sandler lowered their target price on Akebia Therapeutics from $6.00 to $4.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, February 6th.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Akebia Therapeutics

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of AKBA. Baird Financial Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Akebia Therapeutics by 23.0% during the 1st quarter. Baird Financial Group Inc. now owns 21,393 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $41,000 after buying an additional 4,000 shares during the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Akebia Therapeutics by 13.1% during the 1st quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 176,961 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $340,000 after buying an additional 20,499 shares during the last quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. boosted its stake in shares of Akebia Therapeutics by 9.1% during the 1st quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 137,897 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $265,000 after buying an additional 11,517 shares during the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Akebia Therapeutics by 171.8% during the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 2,724,439 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $5,231,000 after buying an additional 1,722,245 shares during the last quarter. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its stake in shares of Akebia Therapeutics by 123.0% during the 2nd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 1,652,746 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $6,016,000 after buying an additional 911,585 shares during the last quarter. 33.92% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Akebia Therapeutics Price Performance

AKBA opened at $0.97 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.33, a current ratio of 1.40 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.33. Akebia Therapeutics has a 12 month low of $0.88 and a 12 month high of $4.08. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $1.27 and a 200 day simple moving average of $1.39. The stock has a market cap of $260.13 million, a P/E ratio of -12.12 and a beta of 0.26.

Akebia Therapeutics (NASDAQ:AKBA) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 7th. The biopharmaceutical company reported ($0.03) EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.01) by ($0.02). Akebia Therapeutics had a negative net margin of 8.83% and a negative return on equity of 62.72%. The firm had revenue of $53.54 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $51.67 million. On average, research analysts expect that Akebia Therapeutics will post -0.1 EPS for the current year.

About Akebia Therapeutics

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.