Akero Therapeutics (NASDAQ:AKRO) Coverage Initiated at HC Wainwright

Investment analysts at HC Wainwright initiated coverage on shares of Akero Therapeutics (NASDAQ:AKRO) in a report issued on Thursday, MarketBeat.com reports. The firm set a “buy” rating and a $72.00 price target on the stock. HC Wainwright’s price objective indicates a potential upside of 61.00% from the stock’s current price. HC Wainwright also issued estimates for Akero Therapeutics’ Q1 2026 earnings at ($0.96) EPS, Q2 2026 earnings at ($0.99) EPS, Q3 2026 earnings at ($1.02) EPS and Q4 2026 earnings at ($1.04) EPS.

Several other brokerages also recently weighed in on AKRO. Citigroup cut their target price on Akero Therapeutics from $80.00 to $78.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, May 13th. Bank of America lifted their target price on Akero Therapeutics from $63.00 to $64.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 27th. TD Cowen started coverage on Akero Therapeutics in a research note on Monday, August 4th. They set a “buy” rating and a $76.00 target price on the stock. Cowen started coverage on Akero Therapeutics in a report on Monday, August 4th. They issued a “buy” rating for the company. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded Akero Therapeutics from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, August 16th. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $81.14.

Akero Therapeutics Stock Up 1.6%

Shares of Akero Therapeutics stock opened at $44.72 on Thursday. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $49.62 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $46.73. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.02, a current ratio of 12.66 and a quick ratio of 12.66. The company has a market capitalization of $3.58 billion, a P/E ratio of -22.36 and a beta of -0.24. Akero Therapeutics has a 1-year low of $21.34 and a 1-year high of $58.40.

Akero Therapeutics (NASDAQ:AKRO) last announced its earnings results on Friday, August 8th. The company reported ($0.86) earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.97) by $0.11. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted ($0.81) EPS. As a group, research analysts forecast that Akero Therapeutics will post -3.99 EPS for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Andrew Cheng sold 30,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, August 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $48.59, for a total value of $1,457,700.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 490,757 shares in the company, valued at $23,845,882.63. This represents a 5.76% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, VP Patrick Lamy sold 2,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $52.88, for a total value of $105,760.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president owned 29,891 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,580,636.08. This trade represents a 6.27% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 197,406 shares of company stock valued at $10,144,055. 7.07% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Akero Therapeutics

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of AKRO. Holocene Advisors LP acquired a new stake in shares of Akero Therapeutics during the second quarter worth $57,396,000. Bank of America Corp DE raised its position in Akero Therapeutics by 406.7% during the second quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 1,320,461 shares of the company’s stock valued at $70,460,000 after buying an additional 1,059,860 shares during the period. RTW Investments LP raised its position in Akero Therapeutics by 15.9% during 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 during the period. Bellevue Group AG raised its position in Akero Therapeutics by 58.7% during the second quarter. Bellevue Group AG now owns 1,985,272 shares of the company’s stock valued at $105,934,000 after buying an additional 734,606 shares during the period. Finally, Balyasny Asset Management L.P. acquired a new position in Akero Therapeutics during the fourth quarter valued at $18,059,000.

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.