Akebia Therapeutics’ (AKBA) Buy Rating Reiterated at HC Wainwright

Akebia Therapeutics (NASDAQ:AKBA)‘s stock had its “buy” rating reissued by stock analysts at HC Wainwright in a research note issued on Thursday,Benzinga reports. They currently have a $7.50 price objective on the biopharmaceutical company’s stock. HC Wainwright’s price objective would suggest a potential upside of 222.58% from the stock’s previous close.

Separately, StockNews.com cut shares of Akebia Therapeutics from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 15th.

Akebia Therapeutics Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ AKBA traded down $0.07 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $2.33. 1,083,107 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,696,773. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $1.93 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $1.61. The company has a market capitalization of $507.27 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -10.11 and a beta of 0.72. Akebia Therapeutics has a 12 month low of $0.80 and a 12 month high of $2.48.

Akebia Therapeutics (NASDAQ:AKBA) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, November 7th. The biopharmaceutical company reported ($0.10) EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate 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 company earned ($0.08) earnings per share. Equities research analysts expect that Akebia Therapeutics will post -0.3 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV increased its stake in shares of Akebia Therapeutics by 40.7% during the 2nd quarter. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV now owns 31,221 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $32,000 after purchasing an additional 9,037 shares during the last quarter. Wealth Effects LLC increased its stake in shares of Akebia Therapeutics by 18.5% during the 4th quarter. Wealth Effects LLC now owns 32,000 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $61,000 after purchasing an additional 5,000 shares during the last quarter. Empirical Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Akebia Therapeutics during the 3rd quarter worth about $44,000. AlphaMark Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Akebia Therapeutics during the 4th quarter worth about $73,000. Finally, B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Akebia Therapeutics during the 2nd quarter worth about $44,000. 33.92% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.