Akebia Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:AKBA) Sees Large Increase in Short Interest

Akebia Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:AKBA) was the target of a significant growth in short interest during the month of December. As of December 31st, there was short interest totalling 16,680,000 shares, a growth of 18.6% from the December 15th total of 14,070,000 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 2,100,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 7.9 days.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Akebia Therapeutics

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in Akebia Therapeutics by 4.8% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 4,754,464 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $6,277,000 after acquiring an additional 218,172 shares in the last quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC boosted its stake in shares of Akebia Therapeutics by 7.2% in the 2nd quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 3,914,800 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $3,993,000 after purchasing an additional 262,700 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp grew its holdings in shares of Akebia Therapeutics by 24.9% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 3,430,527 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $4,528,000 after purchasing an additional 683,287 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC increased its position in shares of Akebia Therapeutics by 26.0% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 682,038 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $900,000 after purchasing an additional 140,529 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its holdings in Akebia Therapeutics by 3,122.2% during the 2nd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 604,551 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $617,000 after purchasing an additional 585,789 shares during the last quarter. 33.92% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

AKBA has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. StockNews.com downgraded Akebia Therapeutics from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Wednesday. HC Wainwright reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $7.50 price objective on shares of Akebia Therapeutics in a research report on Tuesday.

Akebia Therapeutics Price Performance

Shares of Akebia Therapeutics stock opened at $1.93 on Friday. Akebia Therapeutics has a 52-week low of $0.80 and a 52-week high of $2.48. The firm has a market capitalization of $421.09 million, a PE ratio of -8.39 and a beta of 0.72. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $1.91 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $1.57.

Akebia Therapeutics (NASDAQ:AKBA) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, November 7th. The biopharmaceutical company reported ($0.10) earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.04) by ($0.06). The company had revenue of $37.43 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $45.66 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted ($0.08) earnings per share. Analysts predict that Akebia Therapeutics will post -0.26 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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.