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

Shares of Akero Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:AKRO) have earned an average recommendation of “Buy” from the nine research firms that are presently covering the company, MarketBeat.com reports. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating. The average 12 month price objective among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $75.86.

AKRO has been the topic of several research reports. UBS Group boosted their price target on Akero Therapeutics from $42.00 to $109.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on Akero Therapeutics from $46.00 to $96.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. Citigroup lifted their price target on shares of Akero Therapeutics from $65.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. HC Wainwright increased their price objective on shares of Akero Therapeutics from $50.00 to $72.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Finally, Bank of America upgraded shares of Akero Therapeutics from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their target price for the company from $35.00 to $63.00 in a research report on Thursday, January 30th.

Akero Therapeutics Stock Performance

NASDAQ:AKRO opened at $50.58 on Friday. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $36.56 and its 200-day moving average is $31.49. The company has a market cap of $3.53 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -13.49 and a beta of -0.11. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.05, a quick ratio of 17.25 and a current ratio of 17.25. Akero Therapeutics has a 52-week low of $17.86 and a 52-week high of $58.40.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Akero Therapeutics news, CEO Andrew Cheng sold 25,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $32.09, for a total value of $802,250.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 605,417 shares in the company, valued at approximately $19,427,831.53. This trade represents a 3.97 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, VP Patrick Lamy sold 925 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, December 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $30.79, for a total transaction of $28,480.75. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 17,858 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $549,847.82. This represents a 4.92 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 198,992 shares of company stock valued at $9,134,713. 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 modified their holdings of the stock. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. boosted its position in Akero Therapeutics by 21.6% in the 3rd quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 2,511 shares of the company’s stock valued at $71,000 after buying an additional 446 shares during the last quarter. Summit Investment Advisors Inc. boosted its holdings in Akero Therapeutics by 6.8% in the fourth quarter. Summit Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 7,092 shares of the company’s stock valued at $197,000 after acquiring an additional 450 shares during the last quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC increased its position in Akero Therapeutics by 8.5% in the fourth quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 7,886 shares of the company’s stock worth $220,000 after purchasing an additional 621 shares during the period. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. raised its holdings in Akero Therapeutics by 1.6% during the 4th quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 41,442 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,153,000 after purchasing an additional 637 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Handelsbanken Fonder AB lifted its position in Akero Therapeutics by 5.0% during the 4th quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB now owns 21,000 shares of the company’s stock valued at $584,000 after purchasing an additional 1,000 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.