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

Shares of Akero Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:AKRO) have earned a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the seven research firms that are covering the firm, Marketbeat.com reports. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company. The average 12 month target price among brokerages that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $37.71.

A number of analysts have issued reports on the company. UBS Group raised their price target on Akero Therapeutics from $39.00 to $42.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 5th. HC Wainwright raised their price target on Akero Therapeutics from $40.00 to $43.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, March 1st. Finally, Bank of America assumed coverage on Akero Therapeutics in a research note on Monday. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $30.00 price target on the stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Akero Therapeutics news, CEO Andrew Cheng sold 75,000 shares of Akero Therapeutics stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $32.87, for a total transaction of $2,465,250.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 591,416 shares in the company, valued at approximately $19,439,843.92. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In other news, insider Catriona Yale sold 20,646 shares of Akero Therapeutics stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $35.49, for a total value of $732,726.54. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 78,415 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,782,948.35. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Andrew Cheng sold 75,000 shares of Akero Therapeutics stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 completion of 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 worth $3,319,877 in the last three months. 9.69% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in AKRO. RTW Investments LP acquired a new position in Akero Therapeutics during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $83,891,000. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its position in Akero Therapeutics by 247.7% during the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 2,881,989 shares of the company’s stock valued at $67,294,000 after purchasing an additional 2,053,028 shares during the period. Lord Abbett & CO. LLC boosted its position in Akero Therapeutics by 154.4% during the 3rd quarter. Lord Abbett & CO. LLC now owns 779,126 shares of the company’s stock valued at $39,409,000 after purchasing an additional 472,898 shares during the period. Fred Alger Management LLC boosted its position in Akero Therapeutics by 3,100.2% during the 3rd quarter. Fred Alger Management LLC now owns 441,086 shares of the company’s stock valued at $22,310,000 after purchasing an additional 427,303 shares during the period. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its position in Akero Therapeutics by 225.0% during the 3rd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 500,245 shares of the company’s stock valued at $25,302,000 after purchasing an additional 346,317 shares during the period.

Akero Therapeutics Stock Down 3.5 %

Akero Therapeutics stock opened at $20.26 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.05, a quick ratio of 29.27 and a current ratio of 29.27. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.40 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -7.11 and a beta of -0.38. Akero Therapeutics has a fifty-two week low of $11.25 and a fifty-two week high of $58.38. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $24.73 and its two-hundred day moving average is $20.98.

Akero Therapeutics (NASDAQ:AKRO) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, February 29th. The company reported ($0.99) earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.82) by ($0.17). Analysts predict that Akero Therapeutics will post -4.06 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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.