Akero Therapeutics (NASDAQ:AKRO) Receives Buy Rating from HC Wainwright

Akero Therapeutics (NASDAQ:AKRO)‘s stock had its “buy” rating reaffirmed by HC Wainwright in a research report issued to clients and investors on Tuesday, Benzinga reports. They presently have a $50.00 target price on the stock. HC Wainwright’s price objective points to a potential upside of 86.78% from the stock’s current price.

Several other equities analysts have also issued reports on the company. Wolfe Research began coverage on Akero Therapeutics in a research note on Tuesday, June 11th. They set an “outperform” rating on the stock. Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated an “overweight” rating on shares of Akero Therapeutics in a research note on Thursday, June 20th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $41.13.

Akero Therapeutics Stock Down 2.1 %

Shares of AKRO opened at $26.77 on Tuesday. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $26.09 and its 200 day moving average price is $23.94. Akero Therapeutics has a 12-month low of $11.25 and a 12-month high of $53.00. The company has a current ratio of 24.89, a quick ratio of 24.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04. The firm has a market cap of $1.86 billion, a P/E ratio of -8.37 and a beta of -0.26.

Akero Therapeutics (NASDAQ:AKRO) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Friday, August 9th. The company reported ($0.81) EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.90) by $0.09. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Akero Therapeutics will post -3.64 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Andrew Cheng sold 1,738 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $26.18, for a total transaction of $45,500.84. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 605,417 shares in the company, valued at $15,849,817.06. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In other Akero Therapeutics news, insider Catriona Yale sold 5,200 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, August 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $27.51, for a total value of $143,052.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 75,931 shares in the company, valued at $2,088,861.81. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Andrew Cheng sold 1,738 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $26.18, for a total value of $45,500.84. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 605,417 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $15,849,817.06. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 276,686 shares of company stock worth $7,504,883. 7.94% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Akero Therapeutics

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in AKRO. RTW Investments LP purchased a new position in Akero Therapeutics during the 4th quarter worth approximately $83,891,000. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its holdings in shares of Akero Therapeutics by 247.7% in the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 2,881,989 shares of the company’s stock valued at $67,294,000 after acquiring an additional 2,053,028 shares during the period. Janus Henderson Group PLC raised its position in Akero Therapeutics by 42.2% in the 1st quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 6,121,970 shares of the company’s stock valued at $154,589,000 after purchasing an additional 1,815,569 shares during the last quarter. Redmile Group LLC boosted its stake in Akero Therapeutics by 67.5% during the 1st quarter. Redmile Group LLC now owns 1,858,702 shares of the company’s stock worth $46,951,000 after purchasing an additional 749,226 shares during the period. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in Akero Therapeutics by 19.0% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 3,669,923 shares of the company’s stock valued at $92,702,000 after purchasing an additional 584,875 shares during the period.

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.