Brokerages Set Akero Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:AKRO) Target Price at $73.38

Shares of Akero Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:AKRO) have been assigned a consensus recommendation of “Hold” from the thirteen brokerages that are covering the firm, MarketBeat Ratings reports. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, seven have given a hold recommendation and five have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12 month price target among analysts that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $73.3750.

Several research firms have recently weighed in on AKRO. Lifesci Capital lowered Akero Therapeutics from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 9th. Cowen started coverage on Akero Therapeutics in a report on Monday, August 4th. They set a “buy” rating for the company. Canaccord Genuity Group cut Akero Therapeutics from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and dropped their price target for the stock from $73.00 to $54.00 in a research note on Thursday, October 9th. HC Wainwright reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $54.00 price objective (down from $72.00) on shares of Akero Therapeutics in a research note on Friday, October 10th. Finally, Wolfe Research cut shares of Akero Therapeutics from an “outperform” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, October 10th.

Akero Therapeutics Trading Down 0.0%

NASDAQ:AKRO opened at $54.33 on Friday. The company has a 50-day moving average of $50.49 and a 200-day moving average of $49.70. The firm has a market cap of $4.47 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -28.01 and a beta of -0.35. Akero Therapeutics has a twelve month low of $21.34 and a twelve month high of $58.40.

Akero Therapeutics (NASDAQ:AKRO) last issued its earnings results on Friday, November 7th. The company reported ($0.99) earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.94) by ($0.05). On average, research analysts forecast that Akero Therapeutics will post -3.99 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Akero Therapeutics

In other news, COO Jonathan Young sold 12,500 shares of Akero Therapeutics stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $46.08, for a total transaction of $576,000.00. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer owned 197,484 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,100,062.72. The trade was a 5.95% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Catriona Yale sold 659 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $43.02, for a total value of $28,350.18. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 90,829 shares in the company, valued at $3,907,463.58. The trade was a 0.72% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 114,253 shares of company stock worth $5,400,989. 7.07% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Akero Therapeutics

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Holocene Advisors LP purchased a new stake in Akero Therapeutics in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $57,396,000. Bank of America Corp DE grew its holdings in shares of Akero Therapeutics by 406.7% during the 2nd quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 1,320,461 shares of the company’s stock valued at $70,460,000 after acquiring an additional 1,059,860 shares in the last quarter. Polar Capital Holdings Plc acquired a new position in shares of Akero Therapeutics in the third quarter worth $50,271,000. Deep Track Capital LP raised its holdings in shares of Akero Therapeutics by 31.5% during the third quarter. Deep Track Capital LP now owns 4,000,978 shares of the company’s stock worth $189,966,000 after acquiring an additional 958,380 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Wellington Management Group LLP raised its holdings in shares of Akero Therapeutics by 24.7% during the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 4,251,861 shares of the company’s stock worth $201,878,000 after acquiring an additional 841,915 shares in the last quarter.

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.