Brokerages Set Akero Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:AKRO) Target Price at $82.50

Akero Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:AKRO) has been assigned a consensus recommendation of “Buy” from the six analysts that are covering the firm, MarketBeat reports. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a buy recommendation. The average 12-month price target among analysts that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $82.50.

Several research firms have commented on AKRO. Bank of America lifted their price target on Akero Therapeutics from $63.00 to $64.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 27th. Citigroup dropped their target price on Akero Therapeutics from $80.00 to $78.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, May 13th.

Akero Therapeutics Trading Up 3.6%

AKRO opened at $53.60 on Monday. The firm has a market cap of $4.27 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -27.49 and a beta of -0.15. Akero Therapeutics has a 52 week low of $21.34 and a 52 week high of $58.40. The business’s 50 day moving average is $50.16 and its two-hundred day moving average is $44.00. 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 released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, May 12th. The company reported $0.90 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($1.01) by $1.91. On average, research analysts predict that Akero Therapeutics will post -3.99 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, VP Patrick Lamy sold 8,000 shares of Akero Therapeutics stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $42.49, for a total value of $339,920.00. Following the sale, the vice president directly owned 33,492 shares in the company, valued at $1,423,075.08. The trade was a 19.28% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, insider Timothy Rolph sold 25,000 shares of Akero Therapeutics stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $55.04, for a total value of $1,376,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 169,721 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,341,443.84. This trade represents a 12.84% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 232,156 shares of company stock worth $11,589,728. 7.07% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Akero Therapeutics

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. RTW Investments LP boosted its stake in shares of Akero Therapeutics by 15.9% in the fourth 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 boosted its position in Akero Therapeutics by 11.5% during the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 4,817,091 shares of the company’s stock worth $194,997,000 after purchasing an additional 495,119 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in Akero Therapeutics by 14.2% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 4,230,644 shares of the company’s stock worth $171,256,000 after purchasing an additional 526,233 shares in the last quarter. Deep Track Capital LP boosted its position 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 purchasing an additional 800,216 shares in the last quarter. Finally, SG Americas Securities LLC boosted its position in Akero Therapeutics by 93.3% during the first quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 1,155,787 shares of the company’s stock worth $46,786,000 after purchasing an additional 557,794 shares in the last quarter.

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.