Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. Raises Stock Position in Akero Therapeutics, Inc. $AKRO

Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. grew its stake in Akero Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:AKRO) by 15.6% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 3,079 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 415 shares during the quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd.’s holdings in Akero Therapeutics were worth $164,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. Northwest & Ethical Investments L.P. acquired a new position in shares of Akero Therapeutics during the first quarter valued at approximately $32,000. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Akero Therapeutics by 30.8% during the first quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 1,658 shares of the company’s stock worth $67,000 after purchasing an additional 390 shares in the last quarter. GF Fund Management CO. LTD. increased its position in shares of Akero Therapeutics by 21.9% during the first quarter. GF Fund Management CO. LTD. now owns 1,787 shares of the company’s stock worth $72,000 after purchasing an additional 321 shares in the last quarter. Amalgamated Bank increased its position in shares of Akero Therapeutics by 19.0% during the first quarter. Amalgamated Bank now owns 2,570 shares of the company’s stock worth $104,000 after purchasing an additional 410 shares in the last quarter. Finally, KBC Group NV acquired a new stake in Akero Therapeutics during the 1st quarter worth $120,000.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have issued reports on AKRO. TD Cowen started 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 on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group downgraded shares of Akero Therapeutics from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and decreased their price target for the stock from $75.00 to $56.00 in a research note on Thursday. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Akero Therapeutics in a report on Wednesday. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Akero Therapeutics from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Saturday. Finally, Wolfe Research lowered Akero Therapeutics from an “outperform” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $73.38.

Akero Therapeutics Stock Down 0.4%

Shares of NASDAQ:AKRO opened at $53.88 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 12.66, a quick ratio of 12.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.02. The company has a market capitalization of $4.31 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -26.94 and a beta of -0.29. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $47.15 and a 200 day moving average price of $46.80. Akero Therapeutics, Inc. has a 12-month low of $21.34 and a 12-month 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, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.97) by $0.11. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted ($0.81) EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that Akero Therapeutics, Inc. will post -3.99 EPS for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, COO Jonathan Young sold 12,500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, October 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $47.76, for a total transaction of $597,000.00. Following the sale, the chief operating officer owned 196,898 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,403,848.48. This represents a 5.97% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Timothy Rolph sold 12,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, October 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $46.08, for a total transaction of $576,000.00. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 166,571 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,675,591.68. The trade was a 6.98% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 149,253 shares of company stock valued at $6,982,414. 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.