Akero Therapeutics’ (AKRO) Buy Rating Reaffirmed at HC Wainwright

HC Wainwright reaffirmed their buy rating on shares of Akero Therapeutics (NASDAQ:AKRO) in a report issued on Monday morning,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a $50.00 target price on the stock.

Separately, Citigroup assumed coverage on shares of Akero Therapeutics in a research note on Monday. They set a “buy” rating and a $65.00 price target on the stock. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Akero Therapeutics currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $46.83.

Akero Therapeutics Price Performance

Shares of AKRO opened at $31.20 on Monday. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $29.84 and a 200-day moving average price of $25.89. Akero Therapeutics has a fifty-two week low of $15.32 and a fifty-two week high of $37.00. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.18 billion, a PE ratio of -8.32 and a beta of -0.26. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.05, a quick ratio of 17.25 and a current ratio of 17.25.

Akero Therapeutics (NASDAQ:AKRO) last posted its earnings results on Friday, November 8th. The company reported ($1.05) EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.90) by ($0.15). Equities analysts predict that Akero Therapeutics will post -3.96 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Akero Therapeutics

In related news, CFO William Richard White sold 75,159 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, August 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $27.21, for a total transaction of $2,045,076.39. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 41,791 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,137,133.11. This trade represents a 64.27 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Andrew Cheng sold 108,366 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, November 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $31.73, for a total transaction of $3,438,453.18. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 605,417 shares in the company, valued at approximately $19,209,881.41. The trade was a 15.18 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 428,607 shares of company stock worth $13,005,564 over the last 90 days. 7.94% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Akero Therapeutics

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. lifted its stake in shares of Akero Therapeutics by 21.6% in the third quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 2,511 shares of the company’s stock worth $71,000 after buying an additional 446 shares in the last quarter. Ameritas Investment Partners Inc. increased its position in shares of Akero Therapeutics by 20.0% during the first quarter. Ameritas Investment Partners Inc. now owns 6,175 shares of the company’s stock valued at $156,000 after acquiring an additional 1,030 shares during the last quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. increased its position in shares of Akero Therapeutics by 2,366.0% during the first quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 1,233 shares of the company’s stock valued at $31,000 after acquiring an additional 1,183 shares during the last quarter. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd increased its position in shares of Akero Therapeutics by 13.8% during the third quarter. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd now owns 16,916 shares of the company’s stock valued at $485,000 after acquiring an additional 2,049 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Handelsbanken Fonder AB increased its position in shares of Akero Therapeutics by 12.4% during the third quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB now owns 20,000 shares of the company’s stock valued at $574,000 after acquiring an additional 2,200 shares during 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.