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

HC Wainwright restated their buy rating on shares of Akero Therapeutics (NASDAQ:AKRO - Free Report) in a research note released on Monday,Benzinga reports. They currently have a $50.00 target price on the stock.

Separately, Citigroup started coverage on shares of Akero Therapeutics in a research report on Monday. They issued a "buy" rating and a $65.00 price target on the stock. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Akero Therapeutics has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $46.83.

Akero Therapeutics Price Performance

NASDAQ:AKRO traded up $1.47 during trading hours on Monday, reaching $29.56. 1,204,454 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 868,749. The company has a market capitalization of $2.06 billion, a P/E ratio of -7.64 and a beta of -0.26. Akero Therapeutics has a 12 month low of $15.32 and a 12 month high of $37.00. The business's 50-day simple moving average is $29.46 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $25.67. The company has a quick ratio of 24.89, a current ratio of 17.25 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.05.

Akero Therapeutics (NASDAQ:AKRO - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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). Sell-side analysts expect that Akero Therapeutics will post -3.96 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Akero Therapeutics news, CEO Andrew Cheng sold 108,366 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $31.73, for a total transaction of $3,438,453.18. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 605,417 shares in the company, valued at $19,209,881.41. This trade represents a 15.18 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Catriona Yale sold 8,851 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Friday, August 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $27.53, for a total value of $243,668.03. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 75,931 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,090,380.43. This represents a 10.44 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 428,397 shares of company stock worth $12,997,971. Corporate insiders own 7.94% of the company's stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Akero Therapeutics

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in AKRO. Barclays PLC boosted its stake in Akero Therapeutics by 127.9% during the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 127,668 shares of the company's stock valued at $3,662,000 after purchasing an additional 71,652 shares during the last quarter. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd lifted its position in shares of Akero Therapeutics by 13.8% during the third 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 in the last quarter. XTX Topco Ltd purchased a new position in Akero Therapeutics during the third quarter worth about $308,000. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its position in Akero Therapeutics by 54.4% in the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 7,896,632 shares of the company's stock worth $226,554,000 after purchasing an additional 2,782,029 shares in the last quarter. Finally, RTW Investments LP increased its stake in Akero Therapeutics by 9.0% in the 3rd quarter. RTW Investments LP now owns 5,919,435 shares of the company's stock valued at $169,829,000 after buying an additional 487,450 shares during the last quarter.

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.