Akebia Therapeutics (NASDAQ:AKBA) Stock Price Crosses Above 50 Day Moving Average – Should You Sell?

Akebia Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:AKBA) shares passed above its 50-day moving average during trading on Thursday . The stock has a 50-day moving average of $1.11 and traded as high as $1.41. Akebia Therapeutics shares last traded at $1.40, with a volume of 3,057,084 shares changing hands.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. BTIG Research reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $4.00 price target on shares of Akebia Therapeutics in a report on Tuesday, April 7th. Zacks Research raised Akebia Therapeutics from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 7th. Wall Street Zen lowered Akebia Therapeutics from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Saturday, May 9th. Weiss Ratings restated a “sell (e+)” rating on shares of Akebia Therapeutics in a research report on Wednesday, May 6th. Finally, HC Wainwright reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $6.00 target price on shares of Akebia Therapeutics in a research note on Wednesday, July 1st. Three equities research 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 data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $4.67.

Akebia Therapeutics Stock Down 4.3%

The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $1.11 and its 200-day simple moving average is $1.29. The company has a market cap of $359.47 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -16.75 and a beta of 0.23. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.33, a quick ratio of 1.33 and a current ratio of 1.40.

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Akebia Therapeutics news, CFO Erik Ostrowski sold 56,019 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $1.11, for a total value of $62,181.09. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 616,616 shares in the company, 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 SEC, which is available through the SEC website. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. 4.30% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Akebia Therapeutics

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

About Akebia Therapeutics

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.