Akebia Therapeutics (NASDAQ:AKBA) Coverage Initiated by Analysts at Jefferies Financial Group

Investment analysts at Jefferies Financial Group initiated coverage on shares of Akebia Therapeutics (NASDAQ:AKBA) in a research note issued to investors on Tuesday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage set a “buy” rating and a $6.00 price target on the biopharmaceutical company’s stock. Jefferies Financial Group’s target price indicates a potential upside of 212.50% from the stock’s previous close.

A number of other equities research analysts have also weighed in on AKBA. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Akebia Therapeutics from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, March 17th. Piper Sandler lifted their target price on shares of Akebia Therapeutics from $4.00 to $6.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, March 14th. Finally, HC Wainwright restated a “buy” rating and set a $7.50 price target on shares of Akebia Therapeutics in a research report on Friday, March 14th.

Akebia Therapeutics Stock Performance

NASDAQ AKBA opened at $1.92 on Tuesday. Akebia Therapeutics has a 52-week low of $0.80 and a 52-week high of $2.89. The company has a fifty day moving average of $2.08 and a 200-day moving average of $1.84. The company has a market capitalization of $453.56 million, a P/E ratio of -8.35 and a beta of 0.94.

Akebia Therapeutics (NASDAQ:AKBA) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, March 13th. The biopharmaceutical company reported ($0.10) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates 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. As a group, analysts forecast that Akebia Therapeutics will post -0.3 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Akebia Therapeutics

In other Akebia Therapeutics news, SVP Steven Keith Burke sold 50,506 shares of Akebia Therapeutics stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 816,234 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,714,091.40. The trade was a 5.83 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Nicholas Grund sold 55,621 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $2.10, for a total value of $116,804.10. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 442,579 shares in the company, valued at approximately $929,415.90. The trade was a 11.16 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 280,579 shares of company stock worth $589,216 over the last quarter. 4.10% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Intech Investment Management LLC bought a new position in Akebia Therapeutics in the 3rd quarter worth about $59,000. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company bought a new position in shares of Akebia Therapeutics in the third quarter worth approximately $104,000. FMR LLC grew its holdings in shares of Akebia Therapeutics by 26.0% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 682,038 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $900,000 after buying an additional 140,529 shares during the last quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets increased its position in shares of Akebia Therapeutics by 205.8% during the third quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 46,270 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $61,000 after acquiring an additional 31,137 shares in the last quarter. Finally, MetLife Investment Management LLC raised its holdings in Akebia Therapeutics by 25.7% in the 3rd quarter. MetLife Investment Management LLC now owns 68,064 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $90,000 after acquiring an additional 13,907 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 33.92% of the company’s stock.

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.