Akero Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:AKRO) Short Interest Down 30.3% in October

Akero Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:AKRO) saw a large decrease in short interest in the month of October. As of October 15th, there was short interest totalling 4,720,000 shares, a decrease of 30.3% from the September 30th total of 6,770,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 500,300 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 9.4 days.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, COO Jonathan Young sold 5,000 shares of Akero Therapeutics stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $26.75, for a total value of $133,750.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 241,854 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,469,594.50. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In related news, COO Jonathan Young sold 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $26.75, for a total transaction of $133,750.00. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 241,854 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,469,594.50. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CFO William Richard White sold 75,159 shares of Akero Therapeutics stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $27.21, for a total value of $2,045,076.39. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 41,791 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,137,133.11. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 254,315 shares of company stock valued at $7,440,170 in the last quarter. 7.94% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in AKRO. Janus Henderson Group PLC boosted its stake in shares of Akero Therapeutics by 42.2% during the 1st quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 6,121,970 shares of the company’s stock valued at $154,589,000 after buying an additional 1,815,569 shares during the period. Redmile Group LLC grew its stake in Akero Therapeutics by 67.5% in the first quarter. Redmile Group LLC now owns 1,858,702 shares of the company’s stock valued at $46,951,000 after purchasing an additional 749,226 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in Akero Therapeutics by 19.0% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 3,669,923 shares of the company’s stock worth $92,702,000 after purchasing an additional 584,875 shares during the last quarter. Long Focus Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Akero Therapeutics by 119.0% during the 2nd quarter. Long Focus Capital Management LLC now owns 719,604 shares of the company’s stock worth $16,882,000 after purchasing an additional 391,000 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lifted its holdings in shares of Akero Therapeutics by 10.5% during the 1st quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 4,060,479 shares of the company’s stock valued at $102,569,000 after buying an additional 384,555 shares during the last quarter.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Separately, HC Wainwright reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $50.00 price target on shares of Akero Therapeutics in a report on Tuesday, September 17th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $43.20.

Akero Therapeutics Stock Performance

Shares of AKRO opened at $29.33 on Monday. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $27.87 and a 200 day moving average price of $24.48. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.03 billion, a PE ratio of -9.17 and a beta of -0.25. Akero Therapeutics has a 52-week low of $11.25 and a 52-week high of $37.00. The company has a quick ratio of 24.89, a current ratio of 24.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04.

Akero Therapeutics (NASDAQ:AKRO) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Friday, August 9th. The company reported ($0.81) earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.90) by $0.09. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Akero Therapeutics will post -3.64 earnings per share 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.