Akero Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:AKRO) CEO Sells $1,647,000.00 in Stock

Akero Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:AKRO) CEO Andrew Cheng sold 30,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, January 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $54.90, for a total transaction of $1,647,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 716,062 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $39,311,803.80. This trade represents a 4.02 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website.

Andrew Cheng also recently made the following trade(s):

• On Tuesday, December 10th, Andrew Cheng sold 7,855 shares of Akero Therapeutics stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $30.79, for a total transaction of $241,855.45.
• On Monday, December 2nd, Andrew Cheng sold 25,000 shares of Akero Therapeutics stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $32.09, for a total transaction of $802,250.00.
• On Friday, November 1st, Andrew Cheng sold 108,366 shares of Akero Therapeutics stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $31.73, for a total transaction of $3,438,453.18.

Akero Therapeutics Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ AKRO opened at $54.08 on Friday. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $30.26 and its 200-day moving average price is $28.88. 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 company has a market cap of $3.77 billion, a PE ratio of -14.42 and a beta of -0.19. Akero Therapeutics, Inc. has a 52-week low of $15.32 and a 52-week high of $58.40.

Akero Therapeutics (NASDAQ:AKRO) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Friday, November 8th. The company reported ($1.05) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.90) by ($0.15). As a group, analysts anticipate that Akero Therapeutics, Inc. will post -3.99 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Trading of Akero Therapeutics

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Rhumbline Advisers boosted its holdings in shares of Akero Therapeutics by 1.3% during the 4th quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 105,686 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,940,000 after acquiring an additional 1,310 shares during the last quarter. abrdn plc lifted its stake in shares of Akero Therapeutics by 118.7% in the 4th quarter. abrdn plc now owns 269,782 shares of the company’s stock worth $7,505,000 after purchasing an additional 146,424 shares during the period. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. lifted its stake in shares of Akero Therapeutics by 10.8% in the 4th quarter. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 14,800 shares of the company’s stock worth $412,000 after purchasing an additional 1,446 shares during the period. SG Americas Securities LLC lifted its stake in shares of Akero Therapeutics by 4,022.1% in the 4th quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 597,993 shares of the company’s stock worth $16,636,000 after purchasing an additional 583,486 shares during the period. Finally, Exome Asset Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Akero Therapeutics in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $2,212,000.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts recently issued reports on AKRO shares. Canaccord Genuity Group increased their price target on shares of Akero Therapeutics from $56.00 to $73.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday. HC Wainwright increased their price target on shares of Akero Therapeutics from $50.00 to $72.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on shares of Akero Therapeutics from $46.00 to $96.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday. UBS Group increased their price objective on shares of Akero Therapeutics from $42.00 to $109.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday. Finally, Bank of America raised shares of Akero Therapeutics from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $35.00 to $63.00 in a research report on Thursday. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $75.86.

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.