Akero Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:AKRO) Receives $73.38 Consensus Target Price from Analysts

Shares of Akero Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:AKRO) have been given a consensus recommendation of “Hold” by the thirteen analysts that are presently covering the company, Marketbeat.com reports. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average 12-month price objective among brokerages that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $73.3750.

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on AKRO shares. Zacks Research cut shares of Akero Therapeutics from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, October 10th. Jefferies Financial Group cut shares of Akero Therapeutics from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and reduced their price objective for the stock from $75.00 to $56.00 in a research report on Thursday, October 9th. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Akero Therapeutics from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Saturday, October 11th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Akero Therapeutics in a report on Friday. Finally, Canaccord Genuity Group lowered shares of Akero Therapeutics from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and dropped their target price for the stock from $73.00 to $54.00 in a report on Thursday, October 9th.

Insider Buying and Selling at Akero Therapeutics

In other news, CEO Andrew Cheng sold 30,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, October 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $53.98, for a total transaction of $1,619,400.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 526,114 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $28,399,633.72. This represents a 5.39% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CFO William Richard White sold 659 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $43.02, for a total transaction of $28,350.18. Following the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 57,752 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,484,491.04. The trade was a 1.13% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 169,253 shares of company stock valued at $8,072,314. 7.07% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Akero Therapeutics

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. FNY Investment Advisers LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Akero Therapeutics in the second quarter valued at about $28,000. Northwest & Ethical Investments L.P. purchased a new stake in shares of Akero Therapeutics in the first quarter valued at about $32,000. CWM LLC grew 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 valued at $38,000 after purchasing an additional 585 shares during the period. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. grew 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 valued at $67,000 after purchasing an additional 390 shares during the period. Finally, TD Waterhouse Canada Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Akero Therapeutics in the second quarter valued at about $71,000.

Akero Therapeutics Stock Performance

NASDAQ:AKRO opened at $53.77 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 company has a fifty day moving average of $47.98 and a two-hundred day moving average of $47.74. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.30 billion, a PE ratio of -26.89 and a beta of -0.29. Akero Therapeutics has a fifty-two week low of $21.34 and a fifty-two week high of $58.40.

Akero Therapeutics (NASDAQ:AKRO) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Friday, August 8th. The company reported ($0.86) earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.97) by $0.11. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned ($0.81) EPS. As a group, research analysts forecast that Akero Therapeutics will post -3.99 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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.