HC Wainwright Reaffirms “Buy” Rating for Akero Therapeutics (NASDAQ:AKRO)

Akero Therapeutics (NASDAQ:AKRO)‘s stock had its “buy” rating reissued by equities researchers at HC Wainwright in a research report issued to clients and investors on Monday,Benzinga reports. They presently have a $50.00 target price on the stock. HC Wainwright’s target price points to a potential upside of 78.00% from the company’s previous close.

Separately, Citigroup started 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 investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Akero Therapeutics currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $46.83.

Akero Therapeutics Stock Performance

Shares of AKRO stock opened at $28.09 on Monday. Akero Therapeutics has a 52 week low of $13.86 and a 52 week high of $37.00. The company has a market capitalization of $1.96 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -7.49 and a beta of -0.26. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $29.46 and a 200 day simple moving average of $25.67. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.05, a quick ratio of 24.89 and a current 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 the consensus estimate of ($0.90) by ($0.15). On average, sell-side analysts predict that Akero Therapeutics will post -3.96 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Akero Therapeutics

In related news, CEO Andrew Cheng sold 1,738 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $26.18, for a total value of $45,500.84. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 605,417 shares in the company, valued at approximately $15,849,817.06. This trade represents a 0.29 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CFO William Richard White sold 75,159 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $27.21, for a total value of $2,045,076.39. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 41,791 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,137,133.11. This trade represents a 64.27 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 428,397 shares of company stock valued at $12,997,971 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 7.94% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Akero Therapeutics

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its position in Akero Therapeutics by 54.4% during the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 7,896,632 shares of the company’s stock valued at $226,554,000 after purchasing an additional 2,782,029 shares in the last quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC raised its holdings in shares of Akero Therapeutics by 42.2% during the 1st quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 6,121,970 shares of the company’s stock worth $154,589,000 after buying an additional 1,815,569 shares in the last quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. acquired a new position in shares of Akero Therapeutics during the 3rd quarter worth $37,392,000. Redmile Group LLC lifted its position in shares of Akero Therapeutics by 67.5% during the 1st quarter. Redmile Group LLC now owns 1,858,702 shares of the company’s stock worth $46,951,000 after buying an additional 749,226 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in Akero Therapeutics by 19.0% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 3,669,923 shares of the company’s stock valued at $92,702,000 after buying an additional 584,875 shares in 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.