Akero Therapeutics (NASDAQ:AKRO) Earns “Buy” Rating from HC Wainwright

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

Several other research analysts also recently issued reports on AKRO. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an overweight rating on shares of Akero Therapeutics in a report on Thursday, June 20th. Wolfe Research started coverage on Akero Therapeutics in a research report on Tuesday, June 11th. They set an outperform rating for the company. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and an average target price of $41.13.

Akero Therapeutics Stock Performance

Akero Therapeutics stock opened at $28.00 on Tuesday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $26.28 and a 200 day simple moving average of $23.98. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.94 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -8.75 and a beta of -0.26. The company has a quick ratio of 24.89, a current ratio of 24.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04. Akero Therapeutics has a 12-month low of $11.25 and a 12-month high of $51.81.

Akero Therapeutics (NASDAQ:AKRO) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Friday, August 9th. The company reported ($0.81) earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.90) by $0.09. On average, research analysts anticipate that Akero Therapeutics will post -3.64 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Akero Therapeutics news, CEO Andrew Cheng sold 1,738 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $26.18, for a total transaction of $45,500.84. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 605,417 shares in the company, valued at $15,849,817.06. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. In other Akero Therapeutics news, CEO Andrew Cheng sold 1,738 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $26.18, for a total value of $45,500.84. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 605,417 shares in the company, valued at $15,849,817.06. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Catriona Yale sold 3,871 shares of Akero Therapeutics stock in a transaction on Wednesday, September 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $27.56, for a total transaction of $106,684.76. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 75,294 shares in the company, valued at $2,075,102.64. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 283,042 shares of company stock valued at $7,679,955 over the last three months. Company insiders own 7.94% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Akero Therapeutics

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of AKRO. Perceptive Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Akero Therapeutics by 8.1% in the 2nd quarter. Perceptive Advisors LLC now owns 1,499,897 shares of the company’s stock valued at $35,188,000 after purchasing an additional 112,426 shares during the period. Long Focus Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Akero Therapeutics by 119.0% in the second quarter. Long Focus Capital Management LLC now owns 719,604 shares of the company’s stock valued at $16,882,000 after buying an additional 391,000 shares during the period. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company boosted its holdings in shares of Akero Therapeutics by 26.1% in the second quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 107,172 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,514,000 after buying an additional 22,195 shares during the period. Ensign Peak Advisors Inc raised its holdings in shares of Akero Therapeutics by 2.1% during the second quarter. Ensign Peak Advisors Inc now owns 237,494 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,572,000 after acquiring an additional 4,950 shares during the period. Finally, Renaissance Technologies LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Akero Therapeutics during the second quarter worth $565,000.

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.