Akebia Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:AKBA) Short Interest Update

Akebia Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:AKBA) was the recipient of a large drop in short interest in the month of June. As of June 30th, there was short interest totaling 19,177,371 shares, a drop of 34.3% from the June 15th total of 29,201,925 shares. Approximately 7.5% of the company’s shares are short sold. Based on an average daily volume of 7,120,957 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 2.7 days.

Akebia Therapeutics Trading Down 4.3%

NASDAQ AKBA opened at $1.34 on Friday. 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 52 week low of $0.82 and a 52 week high of $4.04. The stock has a market capitalization of $359.47 million, a PE ratio of -16.75 and a beta of 0.23. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $1.11 and a two-hundred day moving average of $1.29.

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Akebia Therapeutics news, CFO Erik Ostrowski sold 56,019 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $1.11, for a total value of $62,181.09. Following the sale, the chief financial officer owned 616,616 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $684,443.76. The trade was a 8.33% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Company insiders own 4.30% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Akebia Therapeutics

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in AKBA. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in Akebia Therapeutics by 6.4% during the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 15,547,508 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $42,445,000 after buying an additional 936,042 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp boosted its stake in shares of Akebia Therapeutics by 15.6% during the fourth quarter. State Street Corp now owns 13,687,561 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $22,037,000 after buying an additional 1,842,792 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Akebia Therapeutics by 1.5% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 6,277,177 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $10,108,000 after buying an additional 92,226 shares during the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. increased its position in Akebia Therapeutics by 166.2% in the 4th quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 4,706,437 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $7,577,000 after acquiring an additional 2,938,624 shares during the period. Finally, UBS Group AG raised its stake in Akebia Therapeutics by 470.2% during the 3rd quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 3,646,233 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $9,954,000 after acquiring an additional 3,006,771 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 33.92% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts recently commented on the company. Weiss Ratings restated a “sell (e+)” rating on shares of Akebia Therapeutics in a report on Wednesday, May 6th. BTIG Research reissued a “buy” rating and set a $4.00 price target on shares of Akebia Therapeutics in a research report on Tuesday, April 7th. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Akebia Therapeutics from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Saturday, May 9th. HC Wainwright restated a “buy” rating and issued a $6.00 price objective on shares of Akebia Therapeutics in a report on Wednesday, July 1st. Finally, Zacks Research upgraded shares of Akebia Therapeutics from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 7th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $4.67.

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.