Akero Therapeutics (NASDAQ:AKRO) Coverage Initiated at Citigroup

Citigroup began coverage on shares of Akero Therapeutics (NASDAQ:AKRO) in a research report sent to investors on Monday, MarketBeat.com reports. The firm issued a buy rating and a $65.00 price objective on the stock.

Separately, 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 11th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $46.83.

Akero Therapeutics Trading Down 1.3 %

NASDAQ AKRO opened at $30.64 on Monday. Akero Therapeutics has a 1-year low of $15.32 and a 1-year 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. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $29.73 and a 200-day moving average of $25.85. The firm has a market cap of $2.14 billion, a PE ratio of -8.17 and a beta of -0.26.

Akero Therapeutics (NASDAQ:AKRO) last released its quarterly 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). As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Akero Therapeutics will post -3.96 EPS for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Akero Therapeutics

In other Akero Therapeutics news, insider Catriona Yale sold 5,200 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $27.51, for a total transaction of $143,052.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 75,931 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,088,861.81. The trade was a 6.41 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Andrew Cheng sold 1,738 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $26.18, for a total value of $45,500.84. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 605,417 shares in the company, valued at $15,849,817.06. The trade was a 0.29 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 437,458 shares of company stock valued at $13,249,232. 7.94% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Akero Therapeutics

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in AKRO. Barclays PLC grew its stake in shares of Akero Therapeutics by 127.9% during the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 127,668 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,662,000 after buying an additional 71,652 shares during the last quarter. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd boosted its holdings in shares of Akero Therapeutics by 13.8% in the third quarter. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd now owns 16,916 shares of the company’s stock valued at $485,000 after purchasing an additional 2,049 shares during the period. XTX Topco Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of Akero Therapeutics in the third quarter valued at approximately $308,000. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its holdings in shares of Akero Therapeutics by 54.4% in the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 7,896,632 shares of the company’s stock valued at $226,554,000 after purchasing an additional 2,782,029 shares during the period. Finally, RTW Investments LP boosted its holdings in shares of Akero Therapeutics by 9.0% in the third quarter. RTW Investments LP now owns 5,919,435 shares of the company’s stock valued at $169,829,000 after purchasing an additional 487,450 shares during the period.

About Akero Therapeutics

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.