Principal Financial Group Inc. Trims Stock Position in Akero Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:AKRO)

Principal Financial Group Inc. lowered its position in shares of Akero Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:AKRO) by 31.0% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 9,494 shares of the company’s stock after selling 4,272 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc.’s holdings in Akero Therapeutics were worth $223,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Quarry LP lifted its position in Akero Therapeutics by 40.0% during the fourth quarter. Quarry LP now owns 1,750 shares of the company’s stock valued at $41,000 after purchasing an additional 500 shares during the last quarter. Ameritas Investment Partners Inc. lifted its position in Akero Therapeutics by 20.0% during the first quarter. Ameritas Investment Partners Inc. now owns 6,175 shares of the company’s stock valued at $156,000 after purchasing an additional 1,030 shares during the last quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. lifted its position in Akero Therapeutics by 2,366.0% during the first quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 1,233 shares of the company’s stock valued at $31,000 after purchasing an additional 1,183 shares during the last quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC lifted its position in Akero Therapeutics by 24.4% during the first quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 15,001 shares of the company’s stock valued at $379,000 after purchasing an additional 2,945 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Headlands Technologies LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Akero Therapeutics by 253.5% in the 1st quarter. Headlands Technologies LLC now owns 4,217 shares of the company’s stock worth $107,000 after acquiring an additional 3,024 shares during the last quarter.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on AKRO. HC Wainwright restated a “buy” rating and issued a $50.00 price objective on shares of Akero Therapeutics in a report on Monday, August 12th. Wolfe Research began coverage on shares of Akero Therapeutics in a report on Tuesday, June 11th. They issued an “outperform” rating for the company. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald restated an “overweight” rating on shares of Akero Therapeutics in a report on Thursday, June 20th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $41.13.

Akero Therapeutics Trading Up 6.4 %

NASDAQ:AKRO opened at $27.34 on Monday. The company has a fifty day moving average of $25.99 and a 200 day moving average of $23.94. Akero Therapeutics, Inc. has a 52 week low of $11.25 and a 52 week high of $53.77. The company has a quick ratio of 24.89, a current ratio of 24.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.90 billion, a P/E ratio of -8.54 and a beta of -0.26.

Akero Therapeutics (NASDAQ:AKRO) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Friday, August 9th. The company reported ($0.81) EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.90) by $0.09. On average, research analysts predict that Akero Therapeutics, Inc. will post -3.64 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity at Akero Therapeutics

In other Akero Therapeutics news, CFO William Richard White sold 34,811 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $28.04, for a total transaction of $976,100.44. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 41,791 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,171,819.64. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other Akero Therapeutics news, CFO William Richard White sold 34,811 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $28.04, for a total transaction of $976,100.44. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 41,791 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,171,819.64. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Catriona Yale sold 8,851 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, August 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $27.53, for a total transaction of $243,668.03. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 75,931 shares in the company, valued at $2,090,380.43. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 276,686 shares of company stock worth $7,504,883 in the last three months. 7.94% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.