Short Interest in Akero Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:AKRO) Drops By 5.4%

Akero Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:AKRO) was the target of a significant decrease in short interest in the month of September. As of September 30th, there was short interest totalling 6,770,000 shares, a decrease of 5.4% from the September 15th total of 7,160,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 569,400 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 11.9 days.

Insider Activity

In other news, CFO William Richard White sold 139,083 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $26.98, for a total value of $3,752,459.34. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 41,791 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,127,521.18. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other news, CFO William Richard White sold 139,083 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $26.98, for a total value of $3,752,459.34. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 41,791 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,127,521.18. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Andrew Cheng sold 1,738 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $26.18, for a total value of $45,500.84. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 605,417 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $15,849,817.06. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 304,867 shares of company stock valued at $8,410,994. 7.94% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in AKRO. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its position in shares of Akero Therapeutics by 247.7% in the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 2,881,989 shares of the company’s stock valued at $67,294,000 after buying an additional 2,053,028 shares in the last quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in Akero Therapeutics during the 1st quarter worth about $211,000. Quattro Financial Advisors LLC increased its position in Akero Therapeutics by 43,378.3% during the 1st quarter. Quattro Financial Advisors LLC now owns 10,000 shares of the company’s stock worth $253,000 after purchasing an additional 9,977 shares in the last quarter. Bourgeon Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in Akero Therapeutics during the 1st quarter worth about $383,000. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its position in Akero Therapeutics by 15.6% during the 1st quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 13,766 shares of the company’s stock worth $348,000 after purchasing an additional 1,858 shares in the last quarter.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

AKRO has been the subject of several recent research reports. HC Wainwright reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $50.00 price target on shares of Akero Therapeutics in a report on Tuesday, September 17th. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed 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 six have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $43.20.

Akero Therapeutics Price Performance

Akero Therapeutics stock opened at $30.82 on Friday. Akero Therapeutics has a one year low of $11.25 and a one year high of $37.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04, a quick ratio of 24.89 and a current ratio of 24.89. The business has a fifty day moving average of $27.23 and a two-hundred day moving average of $24.19. The company has a market cap of $2.13 billion, a P/E ratio of -9.63 and a beta of -0.25.

Akero Therapeutics (NASDAQ:AKRO) last released its 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. As a group, analysts predict that Akero Therapeutics will post -3.64 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.