Akebia Therapeutics (NASDAQ:AKBA) CEO John Butler Purchases 69,270 Shares

Akebia Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:AKBA) CEO John Butler bought 69,270 shares of Akebia Therapeutics stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 4th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $1.25 per share, for a total transaction of $86,587.50. Following the completion of the purchase, the chief executive officer directly owned 3,367,064 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,208,830. This trade represents a 2.10% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link.

Akebia Therapeutics Trading Down 4.8%

Akebia Therapeutics stock traded down $0.06 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $1.19. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 2,837,359 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,413,229. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $1.39 and its two-hundred day moving average is $2.05. The company has a current ratio of 1.55, a quick ratio of 1.46 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.48. The firm has a market capitalization of $318.78 million, a PE ratio of -59.47 and a beta of 0.39. Akebia Therapeutics, Inc. has a 1 year low of $1.14 and a 1 year high of $4.08.

Akebia Therapeutics (NASDAQ:AKBA) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 26th. The biopharmaceutical company reported ($0.05) EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.03) by ($0.02). The business had revenue of $57.62 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $48.37 million. Akebia Therapeutics had a negative net margin of 2.26% and a negative return on equity of 16.70%. On average, analysts anticipate that Akebia Therapeutics, Inc. will post -0.3 EPS for the current year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have recently commented on AKBA shares. Zacks Research lowered shares of Akebia Therapeutics from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a report on Thursday, February 26th. BTIG Research cut their target price on Akebia Therapeutics from $5.00 to $4.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, February 25th. HC Wainwright restated a “buy” rating and set a $6.00 price target on shares of Akebia Therapeutics in a research report on Friday, February 6th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Akebia Therapeutics in a research note on Wednesday, January 21st. Finally, Piper Sandler cut their price objective on Akebia Therapeutics from $6.00 to $4.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, February 6th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have given a Buy rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $5.40.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of AKBA. Baird Financial Group Inc. grew its stake in Akebia Therapeutics by 23.0% during the 1st quarter. Baird Financial Group Inc. now owns 21,393 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $41,000 after purchasing an additional 4,000 shares in the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Akebia Therapeutics by 13.1% during the first quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 176,961 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $340,000 after buying an additional 20,499 shares during the period. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. increased its stake in shares of Akebia Therapeutics by 9.1% during the first quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 137,897 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $265,000 after buying an additional 11,517 shares during the period. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. raised its holdings in Akebia Therapeutics by 171.8% in the first quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 2,724,439 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $5,231,000 after acquiring an additional 1,722,245 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of Akebia Therapeutics during the 2nd quarter worth $112,000. 33.92% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Akebia Therapeutics Company Profile

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.