Akebia Therapeutics (NASDAQ:AKBA) Stock Price Up 10.9% – Here’s What Happened

Akebia Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:AKBA)’s share price shot up 10.9% on Tuesday . The stock traded as high as $2.30 and last traded at $2.30. 1,941,937 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 19% from the average session volume of 2,395,945 shares. The stock had previously closed at $2.07.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on AKBA shares. StockNews.com lowered Akebia Therapeutics from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 15th. HC Wainwright reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $7.50 target price on shares of Akebia Therapeutics in a research note on Tuesday, January 14th.

Akebia Therapeutics Price Performance

The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $1.91 and a 200-day moving average price of $1.59. The firm has a market cap of $516.00 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -10.20 and a beta of 0.72.

Akebia Therapeutics (NASDAQ:AKBA) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, November 7th. The biopharmaceutical company reported ($0.10) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.04) by ($0.06). The business had revenue of $37.43 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $45.66 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted ($0.08) EPS. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Akebia Therapeutics, Inc. will post -0.3 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Akebia Therapeutics

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV lifted its stake in shares of Akebia Therapeutics by 40.7% during the 2nd quarter. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV now owns 31,221 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $32,000 after buying an additional 9,037 shares during the last quarter. Empirical Asset Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Akebia Therapeutics during the 3rd quarter worth $44,000. B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. bought a new position in Akebia Therapeutics in the 2nd quarter valued at about $44,000. XTX Topco Ltd acquired a new position in Akebia Therapeutics during the third quarter valued at approximately $58,000. Finally, Intech Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Akebia Therapeutics during the 3rd quarter worth $59,000. 33.92% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Akebia Therapeutics Company Profile

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.