Akero Therapeutics (NASDAQ:AKRO) Receives Buy Rating from HC Wainwright

HC Wainwright reissued their buy rating on shares of Akero Therapeutics (NASDAQ:AKRO) in a research report sent to investors on Monday morning,Benzinga reports. HC Wainwright currently has a $50.00 price objective on the stock.

Separately, Citigroup began coverage on shares of Akero Therapeutics in a research report on Monday. They issued a “buy” rating and a $65.00 target price for the company. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Akero Therapeutics has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $46.83.

Akero Therapeutics Price Performance

Shares of AKRO opened at $31.20 on Monday. The company has a market capitalization of $2.18 billion, a P/E ratio of -8.32 and a beta of -0.26. 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 firm has a 50 day moving average of $29.84 and a 200 day moving average of $25.89. Akero Therapeutics has a twelve month low of $15.32 and a twelve month high of $37.00.

Akero Therapeutics (NASDAQ:AKRO) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Friday, November 8th. The company reported ($1.05) earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.90) by ($0.15). As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Akero Therapeutics will post -3.96 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Akero Therapeutics

In other Akero Therapeutics news, CEO Andrew Cheng sold 108,366 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, November 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $31.73, for a total value of $3,438,453.18. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 605,417 shares in the company, valued at $19,209,881.41. The trade was a 15.18 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Catriona Yale sold 15,485 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $32.62, for a total transaction of $505,120.70. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 74,158 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,419,033.96. This trade represents a 17.27 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 428,607 shares of company stock worth $13,005,564. 7.94% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Akero Therapeutics

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in AKRO. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. grew its holdings in Akero Therapeutics by 21.6% during the 3rd quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 2,511 shares of the company’s stock valued at $71,000 after purchasing an additional 446 shares during the last quarter. Ameritas Investment Partners Inc. grew its holdings in Akero Therapeutics by 20.0% during the 1st 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. grew its holdings in Akero Therapeutics by 2,366.0% during the 1st 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. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd grew its holdings in Akero Therapeutics by 13.8% during the 3rd quarter. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd now owns 16,916 shares of the company’s stock valued at $485,000 after purchasing an additional 2,049 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Handelsbanken Fonder AB grew its holdings in Akero Therapeutics by 12.4% during the 3rd quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB now owns 20,000 shares of the company’s stock valued at $574,000 after purchasing an additional 2,200 shares during the last quarter.

About Akero Therapeutics

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.