Akebia Therapeutics (NASDAQ:AKBA) Rating Lowered to Sell at StockNews.com

Akebia Therapeutics (NASDAQ:AKBA) was downgraded by analysts at StockNews.com from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report issued to clients and investors on Tuesday.

Separately, HC Wainwright reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $7.50 price target on shares of Akebia Therapeutics in a report on Thursday, January 23rd.

Akebia Therapeutics Price Performance

Shares of Akebia Therapeutics stock opened at $1.98 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $430.91 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -8.59 and a beta of 0.74. Akebia Therapeutics has a 52-week low of $0.80 and a 52-week high of $2.48. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $2.02 and a 200-day simple moving average of $1.73.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO John P. Butler sold 144,250 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $2.10, for a total value of $302,925.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2,604,330 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,469,093. The trade was a 5.25 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, insider Nicholas Grund sold 55,621 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 owns 442,579 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $929,415.90. This trade represents 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 in the last three months. 4.10% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Wealth Effects LLC increased its position in Akebia Therapeutics by 18.5% in the 4th quarter. Wealth Effects LLC now owns 32,000 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $61,000 after buying an additional 5,000 shares during the period. TD Waterhouse Canada Inc. increased its position in Akebia Therapeutics by 8.8% in the 4th quarter. TD Waterhouse Canada Inc. now owns 98,618 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $187,000 after buying an additional 8,000 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its position in Akebia Therapeutics by 10.9% in the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 98,546 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $130,000 after buying an additional 9,662 shares during the period. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its position in Akebia Therapeutics by 8.9% in the 4th quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 137,905 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $263,000 after buying an additional 11,257 shares during the period. Finally, MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. increased its position in Akebia Therapeutics by 10.7% in the 4th quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 126,380 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $240,000 after buying an additional 12,232 shares during the period. 33.92% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

About Akebia Therapeutics

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.