Akero Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:AKRO) COO Jonathan Young Sells 10,000 Shares of Stock

Akero Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:AKRO) COO Jonathan Young sold 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $53.81, for a total value of $538,100.00. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 251,147 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $13,514,220.07. This represents a 3.83 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website.

Jonathan Young also recently made the following trade(s):

• On Thursday, January 2nd, Jonathan Young sold 10,000 shares of Akero Therapeutics stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $28.03, for a total value of $280,300.00.
• On Tuesday, December 10th, Jonathan Young sold 2,503 shares of Akero Therapeutics stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $30.79, for a total value of $77,067.37.
• On Monday, December 2nd, Jonathan Young sold 10,000 shares of Akero Therapeutics stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $32.13, for a total transaction of $321,300.00.

Akero Therapeutics Trading Up 1.4 %

AKRO stock traded up $0.80 during trading on Wednesday, reaching $57.21. The company had a trading volume of 157,749 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,974,885. The business has a 50 day moving average of $31.64 and a 200 day moving average of $29.48. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.05, a current ratio of 17.25 and a quick ratio of 17.25. The company has a market cap of $3.99 billion, a P/E ratio of -15.26 and a beta of -0.11. Akero Therapeutics, Inc. has a 52 week low of $15.32 and a 52 week high of $58.40.

Akero Therapeutics (NASDAQ:AKRO) last announced its earnings results on Friday, November 8th. The company reported ($1.05) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.90) by ($0.15). As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Akero Therapeutics, Inc. will post -3.99 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Akero Therapeutics

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in AKRO. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its stake in shares of Akero Therapeutics by 54.4% in the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 7,896,632 shares of the company’s stock worth $226,554,000 after acquiring an additional 2,782,029 shares in the last quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. purchased a new stake in Akero Therapeutics in the third quarter worth about $37,392,000. SG Americas Securities LLC increased its stake in shares of Akero Therapeutics by 4,022.1% during the fourth quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 597,993 shares of the company’s stock valued at $16,636,000 after purchasing an additional 583,486 shares in the last quarter. RTW Investments LP lifted its holdings in shares of Akero Therapeutics by 9.0% during the third quarter. RTW Investments LP now owns 5,919,435 shares of the company’s stock valued at $169,829,000 after purchasing an additional 487,450 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Janus Henderson Group PLC boosted its position in shares of Akero Therapeutics by 2.9% in the 3rd quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 7,077,478 shares of the company’s stock worth $203,053,000 after purchasing an additional 201,225 shares in the last quarter.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have issued reports on AKRO. Canaccord Genuity Group increased their target price on shares of Akero Therapeutics from $56.00 to $73.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. Bank of America upgraded Akero Therapeutics from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price target for the company from $35.00 to $63.00 in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on shares of Akero Therapeutics from $46.00 to $96.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. HC Wainwright lifted their target price on shares of Akero Therapeutics from $50.00 to $72.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Finally, UBS Group increased their price target on shares of Akero Therapeutics from $42.00 to $109.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $75.86.

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.