Alkeon Capital Management LLC Grows Stake in Akero Therapeutics, Inc. $AKRO

Alkeon Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in Akero Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:AKRO) by 19.3% during the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 1,850,934 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 300,000 shares during the period. Alkeon Capital Management LLC owned 2.31% of Akero Therapeutics worth $98,766,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in AKRO. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its stake in Akero Therapeutics by 11.5% in the 1st quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 4,817,091 shares of the company’s stock worth $194,997,000 after acquiring an additional 495,119 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Akero Therapeutics by 14.2% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 4,230,644 shares of the company’s stock worth $171,256,000 after purchasing an additional 526,233 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp grew its holdings in shares of Akero Therapeutics by 10.1% during the second quarter. State Street Corp now owns 2,745,564 shares of the company’s stock worth $146,503,000 after purchasing an additional 250,821 shares in the last quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. increased its position in shares of Akero Therapeutics by 22.8% in the second quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 1,536,200 shares of the company’s stock worth $81,972,000 after purchasing an additional 284,831 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Long Focus Capital Management LLC raised its stake in Akero Therapeutics by 1.4% in the first quarter. Long Focus Capital Management LLC now owns 729,504 shares of the company’s stock valued at $29,530,000 after purchasing an additional 9,900 shares in the last quarter.

Insider Buying and Selling at Akero Therapeutics

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 completion of the sale, the chief operating officer directly owned 196,898 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,403,848.48. This represents a 5.97% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Andrew Cheng sold 30,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, October 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $53.98, for a total value of $1,619,400.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 526,114 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $28,399,633.72. This trade represents a 5.39% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 55,000 shares of company stock worth $2,792,400. 7.07% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Akero Therapeutics Stock Performance

AKRO stock opened at $54.65 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $4.50 billion, a P/E ratio of -28.17 and a beta of -0.40. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $53.70 and its 200 day moving average is $51.05. Akero Therapeutics, Inc. has a 52 week low of $21.34 and a 52 week high of $58.40.

Akero Therapeutics (NASDAQ:AKRO) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Friday, November 7th. The company reported ($0.99) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.94) by ($0.05). As a group, analysts forecast that Akero Therapeutics, Inc. will post -3.99 EPS for the current year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

AKRO has been the subject of a number of research reports. Weiss Ratings reissued a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Akero Therapeutics in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. HC Wainwright reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $54.00 price objective (down from $72.00) on shares of Akero Therapeutics in a report on Friday, October 10th. TD Cowen lowered shares of Akero Therapeutics from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, October 10th. Wall Street Zen cut Akero Therapeutics from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Saturday, October 11th. Finally, Canaccord Genuity Group downgraded Akero Therapeutics from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and lowered their price target for the company from $73.00 to $54.00 in a research report on Thursday, October 9th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $73.38.

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.