Jefferies Financial Group Downgrades Akero Therapeutics (NASDAQ:AKRO) to Hold

Akero Therapeutics (NASDAQ:AKRO) was downgraded by Jefferies Financial Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note issued to investors on Thursday, MarketBeat reports. They presently have a $56.00 target price on the stock, down from their previous target price of $75.00. Jefferies Financial Group’s price target would suggest a potential upside of 3.93% from the stock’s current price.

AKRO has been the subject of several other reports. TD Cowen started coverage on Akero Therapeutics in a research report on Monday, August 4th. They set a “buy” rating and a $76.00 price objective for the company. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Akero Therapeutics in a research report on Wednesday. Cowen assumed coverage on Akero Therapeutics in a research report on Monday, August 4th. They set a “buy” rating for the company. Wall Street Zen raised Akero Therapeutics from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, October 3rd. Finally, HC Wainwright assumed coverage on Akero Therapeutics in a research report on Thursday, September 4th. They set a “buy” rating and a $72.00 price target for the company. Six analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $73.38.

Akero Therapeutics Stock Down 0.4%

AKRO stock opened at $53.88 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.02, a current ratio of 12.66 and a quick ratio of 12.66. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.31 billion, a P/E ratio of -26.94 and a beta of -0.29. The business has a 50-day moving average of $47.15 and a 200-day moving average of $46.78. Akero Therapeutics has a fifty-two week low of $21.34 and a fifty-two week high of $58.40.

Akero Therapeutics (NASDAQ:AKRO) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Friday, August 8th. The company reported ($0.86) earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.97) by $0.11. During the same period last year, the firm earned ($0.81) EPS. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Akero Therapeutics will post -3.99 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Akero Therapeutics news, CEO Andrew Cheng sold 30,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, September 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $43.25, for a total value of $1,297,500.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 475,698 shares in the company, valued at $20,573,938.50. This represents a 5.93% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, COO Jonathan Young sold 12,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $46.08, for a total value of $576,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer owned 197,484 shares in the company, valued at $9,100,062.72. This represents a 5.95% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 149,253 shares of company stock valued at $6,982,414. 7.07% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Akero Therapeutics

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Corient Private Wealth LLC bought a new stake in Akero Therapeutics in the second quarter valued at approximately $3,925,000. Hudson Bay Capital Management LP raised its stake in Akero Therapeutics by 28.0% in the second quarter. Hudson Bay Capital Management LP now owns 386,523 shares of the company’s stock valued at $20,625,000 after buying an additional 84,573 shares during the period. Headlands Technologies LLC raised its stake in Akero Therapeutics by 6,783.5% in the second quarter. Headlands Technologies LLC now owns 8,329 shares of the company’s stock valued at $444,000 after buying an additional 8,208 shares during the period. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co raised its stake in Akero Therapeutics by 54.1% in the second quarter. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co now owns 6,242 shares of the company’s stock valued at $334,000 after buying an additional 2,192 shares during the period. Finally, Tower Research Capital LLC TRC raised its stake in Akero Therapeutics by 1,018.7% in the second quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 18,369 shares of the company’s stock valued at $980,000 after buying an additional 16,727 shares during the period.

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.