Akebia Therapeutics (NASDAQ:AKBA) Research Coverage Started at Westpark Capital

Westpark Capital assumed coverage on shares of Akebia Therapeutics (NASDAQ:AKBA) in a research note published on Tuesday,Benzinga reports. The firm issued a buy rating and a $4.50 price target on the biopharmaceutical company’s stock.

Several other equities research analysts also recently weighed in on AKBA. Leerink Partners downgraded shares of Akebia Therapeutics from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and set a $1.00 target price for the company. in a research report on Friday, August 7th. Weiss Ratings cut shares of Akebia Therapeutics from a “sell (d-)” rating to a “sell (e+)” rating in a research report on Monday, August 31st. HC Wainwright reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Akebia Therapeutics in a research note on Thursday, August 6th. Finally, Zacks Research raised Akebia Therapeutics from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 7th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Akebia Therapeutics presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $3.90.

Akebia Therapeutics Stock Performance

Akebia Therapeutics stock opened at $0.95 on Tuesday. The stock has a market cap of $262.28 million, a P/E ratio of -8.60 and a beta of 0.19. The company has a current ratio of 1.43, a quick ratio of 1.35 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.99. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $1.11 and a 200-day moving average of $1.19. Akebia Therapeutics has a 52 week low of $0.81 and a 52 week high of $3.20.

Akebia Therapeutics (NASDAQ:AKBA) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 5th. The biopharmaceutical company reported ($0.02) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.04) by $0.02. The business had revenue of $49.13 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $48.85 million. Akebia Therapeutics had a negative net margin of 13.54% and a negative return on equity of 88.88%. On average, analysts expect that Akebia Therapeutics will post -0.14 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Akebia Therapeutics news, CFO Erik Ostrowski sold 56,019 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 29th. The shares were 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $684,443.76. This trade represents a 8.33% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. 4.30% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Akebia Therapeutics

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. bought a new stake in shares of Akebia Therapeutics in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $26,000. Hsbc Holdings PLC bought a new position in Akebia Therapeutics during the 2nd quarter worth $27,000. Cibc World Markets Corp acquired a new stake in Akebia Therapeutics in the fourth quarter worth $27,000. Legal & General Group Plc acquired a new stake in Akebia Therapeutics in the second quarter worth $30,000. Finally, Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd lifted its stake in Akebia Therapeutics by 697.8% in the fourth quarter. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd now owns 20,622 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $33,000 after buying an additional 18,037 shares during the last quarter. 33.92% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.