Victory Capital Management Inc. Invests $211,000 in Akero Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:AKRO)

Victory Capital Management Inc. acquired a new position in Akero Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:AKRO) during the third quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor acquired 7,370 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $211,000.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. grew its position in shares of Akero Therapeutics by 21.6% in the 3rd 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 during the last quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. lifted its stake in shares of Akero Therapeutics by 2,366.0% in the 1st quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 1,233 shares of the company’s stock valued at $31,000 after purchasing an additional 1,183 shares during the period. Handelsbanken Fonder AB lifted its stake in shares of Akero Therapeutics by 12.4% in the 3rd quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB now owns 20,000 shares of the company’s stock valued at $574,000 after purchasing an additional 2,200 shares during the period. Eastern Bank purchased a new position in shares of Akero Therapeutics in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $100,000. Finally, Ensign Peak Advisors Inc lifted its stake in shares of Akero Therapeutics by 2.1% in the 2nd quarter. Ensign Peak Advisors Inc now owns 237,494 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,572,000 after purchasing an additional 4,950 shares during the period.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Andrew Cheng sold 108,366 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the sale, 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 sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Catriona Yale sold 9,061 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $27.73, for a total transaction of $251,261.53. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 74,158 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,056,401.34. This represents a 10.89 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 348,248 shares of company stock valued at $10,817,436. Corporate insiders own 7.94% of the company’s stock.

Akero Therapeutics Stock Down 0.2 %

Akero Therapeutics stock opened at $32.10 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $2.24 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -8.56 and a beta of -0.26. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $30.41 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $26.39. Akero Therapeutics, Inc. has a 12 month low of $15.32 and a 12 month high of $37.00. The company has a current ratio of 17.25, a quick ratio of 17.25 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.05.

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, Inc. will post -3.96 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

AKRO has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Citigroup initiated coverage on Akero Therapeutics in a research note on Monday, November 18th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $65.00 target price for the company. HC Wainwright restated a “buy” rating and issued a $50.00 target price on shares of Akero Therapeutics in a research note on Monday, November 18th. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Akero Therapeutics currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $46.83.

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.