Akero Therapeutics, Inc. $AKRO Shares Sold by State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D

State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D reduced its holdings in Akero Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:AKRO) by 1.4% during the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 38,461 shares of the company’s stock after selling 541 shares during the period. State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D’s holdings in Akero Therapeutics were worth $2,052,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the business. FNY Investment Advisers LLC purchased a new position in Akero Therapeutics during the second quarter worth about $28,000. Northwest & Ethical Investments L.P. purchased a new stake in shares of Akero Therapeutics in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $32,000. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Akero Therapeutics by 30.8% in the 1st quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 1,658 shares of the company’s stock valued at $67,000 after acquiring an additional 390 shares during the period. GF Fund Management CO. LTD. grew its holdings in shares of Akero Therapeutics by 21.9% in the first quarter. GF Fund Management CO. LTD. now owns 1,787 shares of the company’s stock valued at $72,000 after purchasing an additional 321 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Amalgamated Bank grew its holdings in shares of Akero Therapeutics by 19.0% in the first quarter. Amalgamated Bank now owns 2,570 shares of the company’s stock valued at $104,000 after purchasing an additional 410 shares in the last quarter.

Insider Transactions at Akero Therapeutics

In related news, COO Jonathan Young sold 12,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, October 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $47.76, for a total value of $597,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer owned 196,898 shares in the company, valued at $9,403,848.48. This represents a 5.97% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CFO William Richard White sold 659 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $43.02, for a total transaction of $28,350.18. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer owned 57,752 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,484,491.04. This trade represents a 1.13% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold 169,253 shares of company stock worth $8,072,314 over the last 90 days. Company insiders own 7.07% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have commented on AKRO. Canaccord Genuity Group cut shares of Akero Therapeutics from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and lowered their price target for the stock from $73.00 to $54.00 in a report on Thursday, October 9th. Zacks Research cut shares of Akero Therapeutics from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, October 10th. Lifesci Capital cut shares of Akero Therapeutics from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, October 9th. Cowen began coverage on shares of Akero Therapeutics in a report on Monday, August 4th. They issued a “buy” rating for the company. Finally, Weiss Ratings restated a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Akero Therapeutics in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Akero Therapeutics currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $73.38.

Akero Therapeutics Stock Performance

Shares of Akero Therapeutics stock opened at $54.00 on Thursday. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $48.33 and a 200-day simple moving average of $48.29. Akero Therapeutics, Inc. has a 12-month low of $21.34 and a 12-month high of $58.40. The company has a current ratio of 12.66, a quick ratio of 12.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.02. The stock has a market cap of $4.32 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -27.00 and a beta of -0.29.

Akero Therapeutics (NASDAQ:AKRO) last released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, August 8th. The company reported ($0.86) EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.97) by $0.11. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted ($0.81) earnings per share. On average, equities analysts forecast that Akero Therapeutics, Inc. will post -3.99 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Akero Therapeutics 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.