Akero Therapeutics (NASDAQ:AKRO) Coverage Initiated at Bank of America

Investment analysts at Bank of America began coverage on shares of Akero Therapeutics (NASDAQ:AKRO) in a report issued on Monday, MarketBeat.com reports. The firm set a “neutral” rating and a $30.00 price target on the stock. Bank of America‘s target price would indicate a potential upside of 42.86% from the company’s previous close.

Other analysts also recently issued research reports about the company. HC Wainwright raised their price objective on Akero Therapeutics from $40.00 to $43.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, March 1st. UBS Group raised their price objective on Akero Therapeutics from $39.00 to $42.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 5th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Akero Therapeutics has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $37.71.

Akero Therapeutics Stock Performance

AKRO stock opened at $21.00 on Monday. The company has a market cap of $1.45 billion, a P/E ratio of -7.37 and a beta of -0.38. Akero Therapeutics has a twelve month low of $11.25 and a twelve month high of $58.38. The company has a quick ratio of 29.27, a current ratio of 29.27 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.05. The business’s fifty day moving average is $24.76 and its 200-day moving average is $20.98.

Akero Therapeutics (NASDAQ:AKRO) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 29th. The company reported ($0.99) EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.82) by ($0.17). Equities research analysts forecast that Akero Therapeutics will post -4.06 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Akero Therapeutics

In other news, COO Jonathan Young sold 5,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $24.38, for a total value of $121,900.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 263,306 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,419,400.28. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. In related news, COO Jonathan Young sold 5,000 shares of Akero Therapeutics stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $24.38, for a total transaction of $121,900.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 263,306 shares in the company, valued at $6,419,400.28. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Andrew Cheng sold 75,000 shares of Akero Therapeutics stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $32.87, for a total value of $2,465,250.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 591,416 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $19,439,843.92. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 100,646 shares of company stock valued at $3,319,877 in the last 90 days. 9.69% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Akero Therapeutics

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of AKRO. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Akero Therapeutics by 12.1% during the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 3,012,182 shares of the company’s stock worth $152,356,000 after acquiring an additional 326,308 shares during the period. FMR LLC raised its position in shares of Akero Therapeutics by 6.3% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 2,750,348 shares of the company’s stock valued at $139,113,000 after buying an additional 162,820 shares in the last quarter. Alkeon Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of Akero Therapeutics by 8.7% in the third quarter. Alkeon Capital Management LLC now owns 3,767,380 shares of the company’s stock valued at $190,554,000 after buying an additional 300,000 shares in the last quarter. Clough Capital Partners L P acquired a new stake in shares of Akero Therapeutics in the third quarter valued at approximately $3,652,000. Finally, Northern Trust Corp raised its position in shares of Akero Therapeutics by 16.9% in the third quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 538,023 shares of the company’s stock valued at $27,213,000 after buying an additional 77,594 shares in the last quarter.

Akero Therapeutics Company Profile

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.