Akebia Therapeutics (NASDAQ:AKBA) Hits New 52-Week High – What’s Next?

Akebia Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:AKBA) shares reached a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Tuesday . The company traded as high as $2.50 and last traded at $2.47, with a volume of 2161320 shares. The stock had previously closed at $2.40.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Piper Sandler upped their price objective on Akebia Therapeutics from $4.00 to $6.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday. HC Wainwright reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $7.50 price target on shares of Akebia Therapeutics in a research report on Friday. Finally, StockNews.com raised Akebia Therapeutics from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday.

Akebia Therapeutics Stock Performance

The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $2.03 and a 200 day simple moving average of $1.79. The firm has a market cap of $546.76 million, a P/E ratio of -10.98 and a beta of 0.94.

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

Insider Transactions at Akebia Therapeutics

In related news, SVP Steven Keith Burke sold 50,506 shares of Akebia Therapeutics stock in a transaction on Monday, February 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $2.10, for a total transaction of $106,062.60. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 816,234 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,714,091.40. The trade was a 5.83 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CAO Richard C. Malabre sold 30,202 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $2.10, for a total value of $63,424.20. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 280,248 shares in the company, valued at approximately $588,520.80. This represents a 9.73 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 280,579 shares of company stock worth $589,216 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 4.10% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Akebia Therapeutics

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in AKBA. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Akebia Therapeutics during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Mariner LLC acquired a new position in shares of Akebia Therapeutics in the 4th quarter valued at $28,000. PDS Planning Inc acquired a new position in shares of Akebia Therapeutics in the 4th quarter valued at $28,000. Cibc World Markets Corp purchased a new stake in Akebia Therapeutics in the fourth quarter valued at $37,000. Finally, Aquatic Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Akebia Therapeutics during the 4th quarter worth about $47,000. 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.