Brokerages Set Akero Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:AKRO) Price Target at $76.29

Akero Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:AKRO) has been given an average recommendation of “Buy” by the nine research firms that are covering the company, Marketbeat.com reports. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating. The average 12 month target price among brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $76.29.

Several brokerages have weighed in on AKRO. HC Wainwright upped their price objective on shares of Akero Therapeutics from $72.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, March 3rd. Bank of America upgraded Akero Therapeutics from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price target for the stock from $35.00 to $63.00 in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Morgan Stanley reiterated an “overweight” rating on shares of Akero Therapeutics in a research report on Sunday, March 2nd. UBS Group increased their target price on Akero Therapeutics from $42.00 to $109.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Citigroup upped their price target on shares of Akero Therapeutics from $65.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th.

Insider Activity

In other Akero Therapeutics news, CEO Andrew Cheng sold 30,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, January 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $54.90, for a total transaction of $1,647,000.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 716,062 shares in the company, valued at approximately $39,311,803.80. This trade represents a 4.02 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, COO Jonathan Young sold 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $28.03, for a total value of $280,300.00. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 218,083 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,112,866.49. The trade was a 4.38 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 242,135 shares of company stock valued at $11,897,479. 7.94% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its holdings in Akero Therapeutics by 54.4% in the third 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 during the period. Point72 Asset Management L.P. bought a new stake in shares of Akero Therapeutics in the 3rd quarter valued at $37,392,000. RTW Investments LP raised its stake in Akero Therapeutics by 15.9% during the 4th quarter. RTW Investments LP now owns 6,859,823 shares of the company’s stock worth $190,840,000 after buying an additional 940,388 shares during the period. Deep Track Capital LP lifted its holdings in Akero Therapeutics by 116.0% during the fourth quarter. Deep Track Capital LP now owns 1,490,000 shares of the company’s stock worth $41,452,000 after acquiring an additional 800,216 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Balyasny Asset Management L.P. acquired a new position in Akero Therapeutics in the fourth quarter valued at about $18,059,000.

Akero Therapeutics Price Performance

Akero Therapeutics stock opened at $44.82 on Tuesday. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $42.44 and a 200 day simple moving average of $34.02. Akero Therapeutics has a one year low of $17.86 and a one year high of $58.40. The company has a market capitalization of $3.57 billion, a PE ratio of -11.95 and a beta of -0.19. 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, February 28th. The company reported ($0.99) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.98) by ($0.01). On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Akero Therapeutics will post -3.99 EPS 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.