Akebia Therapeutics (NASDAQ:AKBA) Shares Down 4.4% – Here’s What Happened

Akebia Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:AKBA)’s stock price fell 4.4% on Thursday . The company traded as low as $2.31 and last traded at $2.29. 801,028 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 70% from the average session volume of 2,672,856 shares. The stock had previously closed at $2.39.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts recently issued reports on AKBA shares. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Akebia Therapeutics from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 15th. HC Wainwright reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $7.50 price objective on shares of Akebia Therapeutics in a research report on Thursday.

Akebia Therapeutics Stock Performance

The firm has a market capitalization of $522.54 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -10.41 and a beta of 0.72. The company has a 50-day moving average of $1.93 and a 200-day moving average of $1.61.

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. As a group, analysts anticipate that Akebia Therapeutics, Inc. will post -0.3 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Akebia Therapeutics

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Rhumbline Advisers raised its holdings in shares of Akebia Therapeutics by 4,915.4% in the second quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 247,060 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $252,000 after purchasing an additional 242,134 shares during the last quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC increased its stake in 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 buying an additional 262,700 shares during the last quarter. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV lifted its position in 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 buying an additional 9,037 shares in the last quarter. B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in Akebia Therapeutics during the second quarter worth about $44,000. Finally, SG Americas Securities LLC grew its stake in Akebia Therapeutics by 117.1% in the third quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 71,965 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $95,000 after purchasing an additional 38,821 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 33.92% of the company’s stock.

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.