Sapient Capital LLC Invests $248,000 in Akebia Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:AKBA)

Sapient Capital LLC purchased a new stake in Akebia Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:AKBA) during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm purchased 200,000 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock, valued at approximately $248,000.

Several other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Victory Capital Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Akebia Therapeutics by 14.1% in the third quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 755,488 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $861,000 after purchasing an additional 93,590 shares during the last quarter. Citigroup Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Akebia Therapeutics by 311,608.2% during the 3rd quarter. Citigroup Inc. now owns 152,737 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $174,000 after buying an additional 152,688 shares during the period. Raymond James & Associates grew its stake in Akebia Therapeutics by 48.0% in the 4th quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 29,917 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $37,000 after buying an additional 9,696 shares during the last quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp raised its holdings in Akebia Therapeutics by 37.6% in the 4th quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 23,159 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $29,000 after acquiring an additional 6,330 shares during the period. Finally, Archer Investment Corp acquired a new stake in Akebia Therapeutics during the fourth quarter worth approximately $25,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 33.92% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have recently commented on the company. HC Wainwright increased their target price on Akebia Therapeutics from $5.00 to $6.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 28th. StockNews.com cut Akebia Therapeutics from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, April 29th.

Akebia Therapeutics Price Performance

Akebia Therapeutics stock opened at $1.40 on Wednesday. Akebia Therapeutics, Inc. has a one year low of $0.78 and a one year high of $2.48. The firm has a market cap of $293.12 million, a PE ratio of -5.00 and a beta of 0.94. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $1.56 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $1.36.

Akebia Therapeutics (NASDAQ:AKBA) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, March 14th. The biopharmaceutical company reported ($0.04) EPS for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.04). The business had revenue of $56.20 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $55.64 million. During the same period last year, the firm posted ($0.04) EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that Akebia Therapeutics, Inc. will post -0.28 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Akebia Therapeutics

In other news, CEO John P. Butler sold 46,570 shares of Akebia Therapeutics stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $1.58, for a total transaction of $73,580.60. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2,044,580 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,230,436.40. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In related news, CEO John P. Butler sold 46,570 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $1.58, for a total value of $73,580.60. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2,044,580 shares in the company, valued at $3,230,436.40. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO John P. Butler sold 37,733 shares of Akebia Therapeutics stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $1.52, for a total value of $57,354.16. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2,091,150 shares in the company, valued at $3,178,548. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 117,093 shares of company stock valued at $181,654. 3.84% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Akebia Therapeutics 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.