Xponance Inc. Buys Shares of 5,565 Akero Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:AKRO)

Xponance Inc. bought a new stake in Akero Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:AKRO) during the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 5,565 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $225,000.

A number of other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the business. RTW Investments LP raised its position 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 purchasing an additional 940,388 shares in the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD raised its position 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 purchasing an additional 513,613 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings 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 acquiring an additional 27,830 shares during the last quarter. Deep Track Capital LP increased its holdings 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 acquiring an additional 800,216 shares during the last quarter. Finally, SG Americas Securities LLC increased its holdings 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 acquiring an additional 557,794 shares during the last quarter.

Akero Therapeutics Trading Down 4.1%

NASDAQ:AKRO opened at $52.08 on Friday. Akero Therapeutics, Inc. has a 1 year low of $21.34 and a 1 year high of $58.40. The stock has a market cap of $4.15 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -26.71 and a beta of -0.15. The business has a fifty day moving average of $50.63 and a 200-day moving average of $44.46. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03, a quick ratio of 16.80 and a current ratio of 16.80.

Akero Therapeutics (NASDAQ:AKRO) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, May 12th. The company reported $0.90 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($1.01) by $1.91. Equities analysts predict that Akero Therapeutics, Inc. will post -3.99 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity at Akero Therapeutics

In other news, CEO Andrew Cheng sold 37,837 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $54.05, for a total value of $2,045,089.85. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 556,487 shares in the company, valued at $30,078,122.35. This represents a 6.37% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, insider Timothy Rolph sold 25,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $55.04, for a total value of $1,376,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 169,721 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,341,443.84. The trade was a 12.84% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 242,156 shares of company stock worth $12,119,228 in the last quarter. 7.07% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Citigroup lowered their price target on Akero Therapeutics from $80.00 to $78.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, May 13th. Bank of America boosted their price target on Akero Therapeutics from $63.00 to $64.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, May 27th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, According to data from MarketBeat.com, Akero Therapeutics presently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $82.50.

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.