Insider Selling: Akero Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:AKRO) COO Sells $538,100.00 in Stock

Akero Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:AKRO) COO Jonathan Young sold 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $53.81, for a total transaction of $538,100.00. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 251,147 shares in the company, valued at approximately $13,514,220.07. This represents a 3.83 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website.

Jonathan Young also recently made the following trade(s):

• On Thursday, January 2nd, Jonathan Young sold 10,000 shares of Akero Therapeutics stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $28.03, for a total transaction of $280,300.00.
• On Tuesday, December 10th, Jonathan Young sold 2,503 shares of Akero Therapeutics stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $30.79, for a total transaction of $77,067.37.
• On Monday, December 2nd, Jonathan Young sold 10,000 shares of Akero Therapeutics stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $32.13, for a total transaction of $321,300.00.

Akero Therapeutics Stock Down 1.3 %

Shares of NASDAQ AKRO opened at $54.21 on Friday. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $32.60 and a 200 day simple moving average of $29.85. The firm has a market cap of $3.78 billion, a PE ratio of -14.46 and a beta of -0.11. Akero Therapeutics, Inc. has a 1 year low of $17.84 and a 1 year high of $58.40. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.05, a current ratio of 17.25 and a quick ratio of 17.25.

Akero Therapeutics (NASDAQ:AKRO) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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). On average, research analysts forecast that Akero Therapeutics, Inc. will post -3.99 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. raised 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 worth $71,000 after purchasing an additional 446 shares during the last quarter. Eastern Bank bought a new position in Akero Therapeutics during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $100,000. Summit Financial Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in Akero Therapeutics during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $205,000. Victory Capital Management Inc. bought a new position in Akero Therapeutics during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $211,000. Finally, AlphaQuest LLC raised its holdings in Akero Therapeutics by 32,588.0% during the 4th quarter. AlphaQuest LLC now owns 8,172 shares of the company’s stock worth $227,000 after purchasing an additional 8,147 shares during the last quarter.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

AKRO has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Bank of America upgraded shares of Akero Therapeutics from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $35.00 to $63.00 in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on shares of Akero Therapeutics from $46.00 to $96.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. HC Wainwright increased their price objective 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. Canaccord Genuity Group raised their price target on shares of Akero Therapeutics from $56.00 to $73.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. Finally, UBS Group raised their price target on shares of Akero Therapeutics from $42.00 to $109.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $75.86.

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.