China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. Acquires 1,446 Shares of Akero Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:AKRO)

China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. boosted its holdings in Akero Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:AKRO) by 10.8% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 14,800 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,446 shares during the period. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd.’s holdings in Akero Therapeutics were worth $412,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its stake 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 valued at $226,554,000 after buying an additional 2,782,029 shares in the last quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. bought a new position in shares of Akero Therapeutics during the third quarter valued at $37,392,000. SG Americas Securities LLC boosted its stake in shares of Akero Therapeutics by 4,022.1% in the 4th quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 597,993 shares of the company’s stock valued at $16,636,000 after purchasing an additional 583,486 shares in the last quarter. RTW Investments LP grew its holdings in shares of Akero Therapeutics by 9.0% in the 3rd quarter. RTW Investments LP now owns 5,919,435 shares of the company’s stock worth $169,829,000 after purchasing an additional 487,450 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Janus Henderson Group PLC increased its position in shares of Akero Therapeutics by 2.9% during the 3rd quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 7,077,478 shares of the company’s stock worth $203,053,000 after purchasing an additional 201,225 shares in the last quarter.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have commented on AKRO shares. Bank of America upgraded shares of Akero Therapeutics from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price target for the company from $35.00 to $63.00 in a research report on Thursday. Citigroup increased their price target on Akero Therapeutics from $65.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. HC Wainwright boosted their price objective on Akero Therapeutics from $50.00 to $72.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on Akero Therapeutics from $46.00 to $96.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. Finally, Canaccord Genuity Group upped their price target on shares of Akero Therapeutics from $56.00 to $73.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Akero Therapeutics presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $75.86.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Andrew Cheng sold 30,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $54.90, for a total transaction of $1,647,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 716,062 shares in the company, valued at approximately $39,311,803.80. The trade was a 4.02 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Timothy Rolph sold 31,250 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, January 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $55.77, for a total transaction of $1,742,812.50. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 170,237 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,494,117.49. This trade represents a 15.51 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 149,303 shares of company stock valued at $6,206,412 in the last 90 days. 7.94% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Akero Therapeutics Price Performance

Akero Therapeutics stock opened at $54.08 on Monday. The stock has a market cap of $3.77 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -14.42 and a beta of -0.19. Akero Therapeutics, Inc. has a 12-month low of $15.32 and a 12-month high of $58.40. The company has a quick ratio of 17.25, a current ratio of 17.25 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.05. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $30.69 and its 200 day simple moving average is $29.07.

Akero Therapeutics (NASDAQ:AKRO) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Friday, November 8th. The company reported ($1.05) earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.90) by ($0.15). As a group, research analysts anticipate that Akero Therapeutics, Inc. will post -3.99 earnings per share for the current year.

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.