Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. Raises Stock Position in Akero Therapeutics, Inc. $AKRO

Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its position in Akero Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:AKRO) by 7.7% in the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 582,254 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 41,562 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. owned about 0.73% of Akero Therapeutics worth $23,570,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. RTW Investments LP increased its holdings in 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 increased its holdings in Akero Therapeutics by 13.5% in the fourth 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. increased its holdings in Akero Therapeutics by 14.2% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 4,230,644 shares of the company’s stock valued at $171,256,000 after buying an additional 526,233 shares in the last quarter. Deep Track Capital LP increased its holdings in Akero Therapeutics by 116.0% in the fourth 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 increased its holdings in Akero Therapeutics by 93.3% in the first 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 Performance

AKRO opened at $47.95 on Thursday. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.84 billion, a PE ratio of -23.98 and a beta of -0.28. Akero Therapeutics, Inc. has a twelve month low of $21.34 and a twelve month high of $58.40. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $51.59 and its 200 day moving average price is $47.19. The company has a current ratio of 12.66, a quick ratio of 12.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.02.

Akero Therapeutics (NASDAQ:AKRO) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Friday, August 8th. The company reported ($0.86) earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.97) by $0.11. During the same quarter last year, the business earned ($0.81) EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Akero Therapeutics, Inc. will post -3.99 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

AKRO has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Citigroup cut their price objective on shares of Akero Therapeutics from $80.00 to $78.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, May 13th. Cowen initiated coverage on shares of Akero Therapeutics in a report on Monday, August 4th. They issued a “buy” rating for the company. TD Cowen initiated coverage on shares of Akero Therapeutics in a research note on Monday, August 4th. They set a “buy” rating and a $76.00 target price for the company. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Akero Therapeutics from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, August 16th. Finally, Bank of America boosted their target price on shares of Akero Therapeutics from $63.00 to $64.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 27th. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Akero Therapeutics presently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $81.57.

Insider Buying and Selling at Akero Therapeutics

In related news, CEO Andrew Cheng sold 37,837 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $54.05, for a total transaction of $2,045,089.85. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 556,487 shares in the company, valued at approximately $30,078,122.35. The trade was a 6.37% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Catriona Yale sold 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $54.23, for a total transaction of $542,300.00. Following the transaction, the insider owned 92,231 shares in the company, valued at $5,001,687.13. The trade was a 9.78% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 226,406 shares of company stock valued at $11,813,920. Insiders own 7.07% of the company’s stock.

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.