Akero Therapeutics (NASDAQ:AKRO) Releases Quarterly Earnings Results, Misses Estimates By $0.01 EPS

Akero Therapeutics (NASDAQ:AKRO) posted its earnings results on Friday. The company reported ($0.99) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.98) by ($0.01), Zacks reports.

Akero Therapeutics Stock Up 1.3 %

Shares of NASDAQ:AKRO traded up $0.62 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $48.37. The company had a trading volume of 311,525 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,557,011. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.38 billion, a P/E ratio of -12.88 and a beta of -0.11. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $38.53 and its 200-day moving average price is $32.34. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.05, a current ratio of 17.25 and a quick ratio of 17.25. Akero Therapeutics has a one year low of $17.86 and a one year high of $58.40.

Insider Buying and Selling at Akero Therapeutics

In other Akero Therapeutics news, insider Timothy Rolph sold 18,750 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $56.51, for a total transaction of $1,059,562.50. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 170,237 shares in the company, valued at $9,620,092.87. The trade was a 9.92 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, VP Patrick Lamy sold 925 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, December 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $30.79, for a total transaction of $28,480.75. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 17,858 shares in the company, valued at approximately $549,847.82. The trade was a 4.92 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 208,992 shares of company stock worth $9,633,413 in the last ninety days. 7.94% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have recently issued reports on AKRO. Citigroup increased their price objective on shares of Akero Therapeutics from $65.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on Akero Therapeutics from $46.00 to $96.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. Bank of America upgraded Akero Therapeutics from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $35.00 to $63.00 in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. UBS Group increased their target price on Akero Therapeutics from $42.00 to $109.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Finally, HC Wainwright upped their price target on Akero Therapeutics from $50.00 to $72.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, January 27th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, According to MarketBeat.com, Akero Therapeutics currently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $75.86.

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.