Akero Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:AKRO) Receives Average Recommendation of “Buy” from Analysts

Akero Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:AKRO) has received an average recommendation of “Buy” from the nine ratings firms that are currently covering the stock, MarketBeat reports. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating. The average 1 year target price among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $76.29.

AKRO has been the subject of several recent research reports. Citigroup lifted their target price on shares of Akero Therapeutics from $65.00 to $80.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. Bank of America upgraded shares of Akero Therapeutics from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $35.00 to $63.00 in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. HC Wainwright raised their target price on Akero Therapeutics from $72.00 to $75.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, March 3rd. Morgan Stanley reiterated an “overweight” rating on shares of Akero Therapeutics in a research report on Sunday, March 2nd. Finally, UBS Group boosted their price objective on Akero Therapeutics from $42.00 to $109.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st.

Akero Therapeutics Price Performance

NASDAQ:AKRO opened at $36.73 on Friday. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $47.41 and its two-hundred day moving average is $35.48. The firm has a market cap of $2.92 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -9.79 and a beta of -0.18. Akero Therapeutics has a one year low of $17.86 and a one year high of $58.40. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.05, a quick ratio of 17.25 and a current ratio of 17.25.

Akero Therapeutics (NASDAQ:AKRO) last issued its earnings results on Friday, February 28th. The company reported ($0.99) EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.98) by ($0.01). Research analysts expect that Akero Therapeutics will post -3.99 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity at Akero Therapeutics

In other Akero Therapeutics news, CFO William Richard White sold 676 shares of Akero Therapeutics stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $44.88, for a total transaction of $30,338.88. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 61,959 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,780,719.92. The trade was a 1.08 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Timothy Rolph sold 31,250 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $55.77, for a total transaction of $1,742,812.50. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 170,237 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,494,117.49. This trade represents a 15.51 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders purchased 341,309 shares of company stock valued at $15,863,578 and sold 242,135 shares valued at $12,064,779. Insiders own 7.94% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Akero Therapeutics

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its position in shares of Akero Therapeutics by 54.4% during the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 7,896,632 shares of the company’s stock worth $226,554,000 after purchasing an additional 2,782,029 shares during the last quarter. RTW Investments LP increased its position in shares of Akero Therapeutics by 15.9% during the fourth quarter. RTW Investments LP now owns 6,859,823 shares of the company’s stock valued at $190,840,000 after acquiring an additional 940,388 shares during the last quarter. Deep Track Capital LP raised its stake in shares of Akero Therapeutics by 116.0% in the 4th quarter. Deep Track Capital LP now owns 1,490,000 shares of the company’s stock valued at $41,452,000 after acquiring an additional 800,216 shares during the period. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. purchased a new stake in shares of Akero Therapeutics in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $18,059,000. Finally, SG Americas Securities LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Akero Therapeutics by 4,022.1% in the 4th quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 597,993 shares of the company’s stock worth $16,636,000 after acquiring an additional 583,486 shares during the last quarter.

About Akero Therapeutics

Akero Therapeutics, Inc, together with its subsidiary, engages in the development of treatments for patients with serious metabolic diseases in the United States. The company's lead product candidate is efruxifermin (EFX), which is in Phase 3 clinical trials that protects against cellular stress and regulates the metabolism of lipids, carbohydrates, and proteins throughout the body for the treatment of biopsy-confirmed metabolic dysfunction-associated steatohepatitis (MASH) patients.