Akebia Therapeutics, Inc. $AKBA Shares Acquired by Invesco Ltd.

Invesco Ltd. grew its position in shares of Akebia Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:AKBA) by 116.0% in the 1st quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 260,603 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock after buying an additional 139,957 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd.’s holdings in Akebia Therapeutics were worth $500,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position 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 buying an additional 1,801,603 shares during the period. AIGH Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Akebia Therapeutics in the first quarter worth about $5,616,000. Northern Trust Corp raised its position in shares of Akebia Therapeutics by 3.1% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 1,685,641 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $3,203,000 after acquiring an additional 50,542 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Akebia Therapeutics by 6.2% during the 1st quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 622,914 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $1,196,000 after acquiring an additional 36,204 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bank of America Corp DE grew its position in shares of Akebia Therapeutics by 117.9% during the 4th quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 543,916 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $1,033,000 after acquiring an additional 294,343 shares during the period. 33.92% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on the company. HC Wainwright initiated coverage on Akebia Therapeutics in a report on Wednesday, June 4th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $8.00 price target for the company. Wall Street Zen raised Akebia Therapeutics from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday. Finally, Zacks Research cut Akebia Therapeutics from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 13th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have assigned a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Akebia Therapeutics presently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $6.75.

Insider Activity at Akebia Therapeutics

In other news, CAO Richard C. Malabre sold 15,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $4.01, for a total value of $60,150.00. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer owned 266,914 shares in the company, valued at $1,070,325.14. This trade represents a 5.32% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CFO Erik Ostrowski sold 41,314 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $3.67, for a total value of $151,622.38. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 503,586 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,848,160.62. This trade represents a 7.58% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 3.00% of the company’s stock.

Akebia Therapeutics Stock Performance

NASDAQ AKBA opened at $2.96 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $784.81 million, a PE ratio of -17.41 and a beta of 1.02. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $3.49 and its 200-day simple moving average is $2.83. Akebia Therapeutics, Inc. has a 1-year low of $1.24 and a 1-year high of $4.08. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.61, a current ratio of 1.98 and a quick ratio of 1.84.

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.