Akero Therapeutics (NASDAQ:AKRO) Announces Quarterly Earnings Results, Misses Expectations By $0.01 EPS

Akero Therapeutics (NASDAQ:AKRO) posted its quarterly earnings data on Friday. The company reported ($0.99) earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.98) by ($0.01), Zacks reports.

Akero Therapeutics Price Performance

Shares of AKRO opened at $49.12 on Friday. Akero Therapeutics has a 12-month low of $17.86 and a 12-month high of $58.40. The business’s fifty day moving average is $38.92 and its 200 day moving average is $32.51. The company has a quick ratio of 17.25, a current ratio of 17.25 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.05. The stock has a market cap of $3.43 billion, a P/E ratio of -13.10 and a beta of -0.11.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms recently weighed in on AKRO. Bank of America raised shares of Akero Therapeutics from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $35.00 to $63.00 in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Citigroup upped their price objective on shares of Akero Therapeutics from $65.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. HC Wainwright upped their price objective on shares of Akero Therapeutics from $50.00 to $72.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on Akero Therapeutics from $46.00 to $96.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. Finally, Canaccord Genuity Group upped their price objective on Akero Therapeutics from $56.00 to $73.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, According to data from MarketBeat, Akero Therapeutics presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $75.86.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CFO William Richard White sold 2,817 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, December 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $30.79, for a total value of $86,735.43. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 38,335 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,180,334.65. This represents a 6.85 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, COO Jonathan Young sold 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $28.03, for a total value of $280,300.00. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 218,083 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,112,866.49. This represents a 4.38 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 208,992 shares of company stock worth $9,633,413 in the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 7.94% of the company’s stock.

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.