Akero Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:AKRO) Given Consensus Rating of “Buy” by Brokerages

Shares of Akero Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:AKRO) have been assigned an average recommendation of “Buy” from the nine ratings firms that are currently covering the firm, MarketBeat reports. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating. The average 1 year price target among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $76.29.

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Bank of America upgraded shares of Akero Therapeutics from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $35.00 to $63.00 in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Citigroup increased their price objective on shares of Akero Therapeutics from $65.00 to $80.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. Canaccord Genuity Group increased their target price on shares of Akero Therapeutics from $56.00 to $73.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. HC Wainwright increased their target price on shares of Akero Therapeutics from $72.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, March 3rd. Finally, Morgan Stanley reiterated an “overweight” rating on shares of Akero Therapeutics in a research report on Sunday, March 2nd.

Akero Therapeutics Trading Down 1.0 %

Shares of AKRO stock opened at $41.68 on Tuesday. Akero Therapeutics has a 52-week low of $17.86 and a 52-week high of $58.40. The stock has a market cap of $3.32 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -11.11 and a beta of -0.19. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.05, a quick ratio of 17.25 and a current ratio of 17.25. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $40.77 and a 200-day moving average of $33.39.

Akero Therapeutics (NASDAQ:AKRO) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Friday, February 28th. The company reported ($0.99) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.98) by ($0.01). On average, equities research analysts forecast that Akero Therapeutics will post -3.99 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, VP Patrick Lamy sold 1,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $29.13, for a total value of $29,130.00. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 34,258 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $997,935.54. This trade represents a 2.84 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Timothy Rolph sold 18,750 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $56.51, for a total transaction of $1,059,562.50. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 170,237 shares in the company, valued at $9,620,092.87. This represents a 9.92 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 218,574 shares of company stock valued at $10,774,514 in the last 90 days. 7.94% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Akero Therapeutics

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Victory Capital Management Inc. bought a new position in shares of Akero Therapeutics in the third quarter valued at $211,000. Simplify Asset Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of Akero Therapeutics by 15.6% in the third quarter. Simplify Asset Management Inc. now owns 283,766 shares of the company’s stock valued at $8,141,000 after acquiring an additional 38,279 shares during the period. LMR Partners LLP boosted its position in shares of Akero Therapeutics by 17.0% in the third quarter. LMR Partners LLP now owns 20,597 shares of the company’s stock valued at $591,000 after acquiring an additional 2,997 shares during the period. Intech Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in Akero Therapeutics in the third quarter valued at about $491,000. Finally, Algert Global LLC raised its stake in Akero Therapeutics by 8.3% in the third quarter. Algert Global LLC now owns 68,052 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,952,000 after purchasing an additional 5,191 shares in 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.