Akero Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:AKRO) Short Interest Update

Akero Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:AKRO) was the target of a large decrease in short interest in the month of October. As of October 15th, there was short interest totaling 5,810,000 shares, a decrease of 41.7% from the September 30th total of 9,960,000 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 2,000,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 2.9 days. Currently, 7.8% of the company’s stock are short sold. Currently, 7.8% of the company’s stock are short sold. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 2,000,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 2.9 days.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, COO Jonathan Young sold 12,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $46.08, for a total transaction of $576,000.00. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer directly owned 197,484 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,100,062.72. This represents a 5.95% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Andrew Cheng sold 30,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, September 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $43.25, for a total value of $1,297,500.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 475,698 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $20,573,938.50. This trade represents a 5.93% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In 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

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH lifted its position in shares of Akero Therapeutics by 41.5% during the third quarter. Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH now owns 17,303 shares of the company’s stock worth $822,000 after acquiring an additional 5,075 shares in the last quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC lifted its position in shares of Akero Therapeutics by 225.2% during the third quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 17,384 shares of the company’s stock worth $825,000 after acquiring an additional 12,039 shares in the last quarter. Bourgeon Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Akero Therapeutics during the third quarter worth $472,000. Capricorn Fund Managers Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of Akero Therapeutics during the third quarter worth $7,084,000. Finally, CWM LLC lifted its position in shares of Akero Therapeutics by 261.2% during the third quarter. CWM LLC now owns 809 shares of the company’s stock worth $38,000 after acquiring an additional 585 shares in the last quarter.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

AKRO has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Wall Street Zen lowered Akero Therapeutics from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Saturday, October 11th. Zacks Research lowered Akero Therapeutics from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, October 10th. Wolfe Research lowered Akero Therapeutics from an “outperform” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, October 10th. Jefferies Financial Group lowered Akero Therapeutics from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and reduced their target price for the company from $75.00 to $56.00 in a report on Thursday, October 9th. Finally, Cowen began coverage on Akero Therapeutics in a report on Monday, August 4th. They set a “buy” rating for the company. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $73.38.

Akero Therapeutics Stock Performance

NASDAQ AKRO traded down $0.12 on Monday, hitting $54.09. 660,160 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,624,450. The business’s fifty day moving average is $48.55 and its two-hundred day moving average is $48.60. Akero Therapeutics has a 12 month low of $21.34 and a 12 month high of $58.40. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.33 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -27.04 and a beta of -0.29. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.02, a quick ratio of 12.66 and a current ratio of 12.66.

Akero Therapeutics (NASDAQ:AKRO) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Friday, August 8th. The company reported ($0.86) earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.97) by $0.11. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned ($0.81) EPS. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Akero Therapeutics will post -3.99 EPS 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.