Akebia Therapeutics Sees Unusually High Options Volume (NASDAQ:AKBA)

Akebia Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:AKBA) was the target of some unusual options trading activity on Thursday. Traders purchased 2,396 call options on the company. This represents an increase of 92% compared to the average volume of 1,249 call options.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on AKBA shares. Leerink Partnrs upgraded shares of Akebia Therapeutics to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, April 28th. StockNews.com upgraded Akebia Therapeutics from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, May 3rd. HC Wainwright reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $7.50 price target on shares of Akebia Therapeutics in a research report on Friday, April 4th. Piper Sandler increased their price objective on Akebia Therapeutics from $4.00 to $6.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, March 14th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group began coverage on shares of Akebia Therapeutics in a research report on Tuesday, April 1st. They set a “buy” rating and a $6.00 target price on the stock. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, four have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Akebia Therapeutics currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $6.63.

Akebia Therapeutics Trading Down 2.7 %

Shares of NASDAQ:AKBA opened at $2.55 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $667.55 million, a PE ratio of -11.09 and a beta of 0.88. Akebia Therapeutics has a 1-year low of $0.80 and a 1-year high of $2.90. The business’s 50 day moving average is $2.07 and its 200-day moving average is $1.99.

Akebia Therapeutics (NASDAQ:AKBA) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 8th. The biopharmaceutical company reported $0.03 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.03) by $0.06. The business had revenue of $57.34 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $44.88 million. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Akebia Therapeutics will post -0.3 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Trading of Akebia Therapeutics

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Akebia Therapeutics by 16.6% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 12,685,803 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $24,357,000 after purchasing an additional 1,801,603 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Akebia Therapeutics by 0.9% in the 4th 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 in the last quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC grew its position in Akebia Therapeutics by 2.8% in the fourth quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 3,823,527 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $7,265,000 after acquiring an additional 105,727 shares during the period. AIGH Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in Akebia Therapeutics during the first quarter worth $5,616,000. Finally, Northern Trust Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Akebia Therapeutics by 3.1% during the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 1,685,641 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $3,203,000 after acquiring an additional 50,542 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 33.92% of the company’s stock.

Akebia Therapeutics Company Profile

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.