Akebia Therapeutics (NASDAQ:AKBA) Hits New 1-Year High After Better-Than-Expected Earnings

Shares of Akebia Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:AKBA) hit a new 52-week high during trading on Thursday after the company announced better than expected quarterly earnings. The company traded as high as $2.90 and last traded at $2.62, with a volume of 4867572 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $2.46.

The biopharmaceutical company reported $0.03 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.03) by $0.06. The business had revenue of $57.34 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $44.88 million.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have recently commented on AKBA. HC Wainwright reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $7.50 price target on shares of Akebia Therapeutics in a research report on Friday, April 4th. Leerink Partnrs upgraded shares of Akebia Therapeutics to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, April 28th. Leerink Partners initiated coverage on shares of Akebia Therapeutics in a report on Monday, April 28th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $7.00 price target on the stock. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Akebia Therapeutics from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, May 3rd. Finally, Piper Sandler increased their target price on shares of Akebia Therapeutics from $4.00 to $6.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, March 14th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, four have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $6.63.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Akebia Therapeutics

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of AKBA. Barclays PLC grew its position in Akebia Therapeutics by 276.1% during the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 273,085 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $360,000 after purchasing an additional 200,482 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its stake in shares of Akebia Therapeutics by 24.1% during the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 502,127 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $954,000 after buying an additional 97,409 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Akebia Therapeutics by 0.9% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 4,795,095 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $9,112,000 after buying an additional 40,631 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Akebia Therapeutics by 8.1% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 10,884,200 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $20,680,000 after acquiring an additional 813,902 shares during the period. Finally, Rhumbline Advisers raised its stake in Akebia Therapeutics by 9.3% in the 4th quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 265,389 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $504,000 after acquiring an additional 22,513 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 33.92% of the company’s stock.

Akebia Therapeutics Trading Down 2.7 %

The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $2.07 and a 200 day simple moving average of $1.99. The company has a market cap of $667.55 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -11.09 and a beta of 0.88.

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.