Akero Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:AKRO) Receives Average Recommendation of “Hold” from Brokerages

Akero Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:AKRO) has been assigned an average rating of “Hold” from the thirteen research firms that are presently covering the firm, MarketBeat reports. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating on the company. The average twelve-month target price among analysts that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $73.3750.

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on AKRO. Cowen began coverage on shares of Akero Therapeutics in a research note on Monday, August 4th. They set a “buy” rating on the stock. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Akero Therapeutics from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Saturday, October 11th. Zacks Research downgraded shares of Akero Therapeutics from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, October 10th. Canaccord Genuity Group downgraded shares of Akero Therapeutics from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and lowered their target price for the company from $73.00 to $54.00 in a research note on Thursday, October 9th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group downgraded shares of Akero Therapeutics from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and lowered their target price for the company from $75.00 to $56.00 in a research note on Thursday, October 9th.

Akero Therapeutics Price Performance

NASDAQ AKRO opened at $54.00 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.02, a quick ratio of 12.66 and a current ratio of 12.66. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $48.21 and its 200-day moving average price is $48.16. Akero Therapeutics has a 52-week low of $21.34 and a 52-week high of $58.40. The company has a market cap of $4.32 billion, a PE ratio of -27.00 and a beta of -0.29.

Akero Therapeutics (NASDAQ:AKRO) last released its quarterly earnings data on Friday, August 8th. The company reported ($0.86) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.97) by $0.11. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned ($0.81) EPS. Sell-side analysts forecast that Akero Therapeutics will post -3.99 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Akero Therapeutics news, insider Catriona Yale sold 659 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $43.02, for a total value of $28,350.18. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 90,829 shares in the company, valued at $3,907,463.58. This trade represents a 0.72% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CFO William Richard White sold 659 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold 169,253 shares of company stock valued at $8,072,314 over the last quarter. Insiders own 7.07% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. FNY Investment Advisers LLC purchased a new position in shares of Akero Therapeutics in the second quarter worth $28,000. Northwest & Ethical Investments L.P. purchased a new position in shares of Akero Therapeutics in the first quarter worth $32,000. CWM LLC raised its holdings in shares of Akero Therapeutics by 261.2% in the third quarter. CWM LLC now owns 809 shares of the company’s stock worth $38,000 after buying an additional 585 shares during the last quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Akero Therapeutics by 30.8% in the first quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 1,658 shares of the company’s stock worth $67,000 after buying an additional 390 shares during the last quarter. Finally, TD Waterhouse Canada Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Akero Therapeutics in the second quarter worth $71,000.

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.