151,200 Shares in Akero Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:AKRO) Acquired by Springhill Fund Asset Management HK Co Ltd

Springhill Fund Asset Management HK Co Ltd purchased a new position in shares of Akero Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:AKRO) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 151,200 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,206,000. Akero Therapeutics comprises about 6.8% of Springhill Fund Asset Management HK Co Ltd’s holdings, making the stock its 8th biggest holding. Springhill Fund Asset Management HK Co Ltd owned 0.22% of Akero Therapeutics at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. FMR LLC increased its position in shares of Akero Therapeutics by 732.1% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 30,337 shares of the company’s stock valued at $870,000 after buying an additional 26,691 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its stake in Akero Therapeutics by 54.4% during the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 7,896,632 shares of the company’s stock worth $226,554,000 after buying an additional 2,782,029 shares during the last quarter. XTX Topco Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of Akero Therapeutics in the third quarter valued at about $308,000. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd raised its position in shares of Akero Therapeutics by 13.8% during the 3rd quarter. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd now owns 16,916 shares of the company’s stock valued at $485,000 after buying an additional 2,049 shares during the period. Finally, Barclays PLC grew its holdings in shares of Akero Therapeutics by 127.9% during the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 127,668 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,662,000 after purchasing an additional 71,652 shares during the period.

Akero Therapeutics Stock Down 8.2 %

AKRO stock opened at $36.73 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.05, a current ratio of 17.25 and a quick ratio of 17.25. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $47.41 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $35.54. 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, Inc. has a 1-year low of $17.86 and a 1-year high of $58.40.

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

AKRO has been the topic of a number of research reports. Citigroup upped their price target on Akero Therapeutics from $65.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. UBS Group raised their price target on Akero Therapeutics from $42.00 to $109.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Morgan Stanley reiterated an “overweight” rating on shares of Akero Therapeutics in a research note on Sunday, March 2nd. HC Wainwright raised their target price on shares of Akero Therapeutics from $72.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, March 3rd. Finally, Bank of America raised Akero Therapeutics from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $35.00 to $63.00 in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $76.29.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director G. Walmsley Graham acquired 50,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 27th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $43.55 per share, for a total transaction of $2,177,500.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now directly owns 1,200,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $52,260,000. The trade was a 4.35 % increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Andrew Cheng sold 30,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $41.77, for a total transaction of $1,253,100.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 656,062 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $27,403,709.74. This represents a 4.37 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders acquired 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.

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.