Principal Financial Group Inc. Purchases New Position in Akero Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:AKRO)

Principal Financial Group Inc. purchased a new stake in Akero Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:AKRO) in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund purchased 257,025 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $10,404,000. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned approximately 0.32% of Akero Therapeutics as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. RTW Investments LP grew its stake in shares of Akero Therapeutics by 15.9% in the 4th quarter. RTW Investments LP now owns 6,859,823 shares of the company’s stock valued at $190,840,000 after buying an additional 940,388 shares in the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its stake in shares of Akero Therapeutics by 13.5% in the 4th quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 4,321,972 shares of the company’s stock valued at $120,238,000 after buying an additional 513,613 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Akero Therapeutics by 0.8% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 3,704,411 shares of the company’s stock valued at $103,057,000 after buying an additional 27,830 shares in the last quarter. Deep Track Capital LP grew its stake in shares of Akero Therapeutics by 116.0% in the 4th quarter. Deep Track Capital LP now owns 1,490,000 shares of the company’s stock valued at $41,452,000 after buying an additional 800,216 shares in the last quarter. Finally, SG Americas Securities LLC grew its stake in shares of Akero Therapeutics by 93.3% in the 1st quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 1,155,787 shares of the company’s stock valued at $46,786,000 after buying an additional 557,794 shares in the last quarter.

Akero Therapeutics Stock Down 0.8%

Shares of AKRO stock opened at $51.57 on Monday. Akero Therapeutics, Inc. has a 12 month low of $21.34 and a 12 month high of $58.40. The firm has a market cap of $4.11 billion, a PE ratio of -26.45 and a beta of -0.15. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $49.59 and a 200-day moving average of $43.70. The company has a quick ratio of 16.80, a current ratio of 16.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03.

Akero Therapeutics (NASDAQ:AKRO) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, May 12th. The company reported $0.90 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of ($1.01) by $1.91. On average, equities analysts predict that Akero Therapeutics, Inc. will post -3.99 EPS for the current year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

AKRO has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Citigroup decreased their target price on Akero Therapeutics from $80.00 to $78.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, May 13th. Bank of America upped their target price on Akero Therapeutics from $63.00 to $64.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 27th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $82.50.

Insider Transactions at Akero Therapeutics

In other news, CEO Andrew Cheng sold 37,837 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, June 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $54.05, for a total transaction of $2,045,089.85. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 556,487 shares in the company, valued at $30,078,122.35. The trade was a 6.37% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Catriona Yale sold 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $39.30, for a total value of $393,000.00. Following the transaction, the insider owned 95,034 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,734,836.20. This trade represents a 9.52% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 241,229 shares of company stock worth $11,933,685 over the last three months. 7.07% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.