Akero Therapeutics (NASDAQ:AKRO) Trading 7.3% Higher – Here’s Why

Akero Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:AKRO)’s share price traded up 7.3% during mid-day trading on Wednesday . The stock traded as high as $41.72 and last traded at $41.48. 1,160,908 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, an increase of 40% from the average session volume of 827,595 shares. The stock had previously closed at $38.64.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts recently commented on AKRO shares. Citigroup raised their price objective on shares of Akero Therapeutics from $65.00 to $80.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. HC Wainwright boosted their price objective on Akero Therapeutics from $72.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, March 3rd. UBS Group raised their target price on Akero Therapeutics from $42.00 to $109.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Canaccord Genuity Group boosted their price target on shares of Akero Therapeutics from $56.00 to $73.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. Finally, Bank of America raised shares of Akero Therapeutics from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price target for the company from $35.00 to $63.00 in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, According to MarketBeat.com, Akero Therapeutics has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $76.29.

Akero Therapeutics Trading Up 8.6 %

The company has a market capitalization of $3.34 billion, a P/E ratio of -11.19 and a beta of -0.19. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $46.58 and a 200 day simple moving average of $35.33. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.05, a quick ratio of 17.25 and a current ratio of 17.25.

Akero Therapeutics (NASDAQ:AKRO) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Friday, February 28th. The company reported ($0.99) earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.98) by ($0.01). Sell-side analysts expect that Akero Therapeutics, Inc. will post -3.99 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Akero Therapeutics

In other Akero Therapeutics news, CEO Andrew Cheng sold 30,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, January 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $54.90, for a total value of $1,647,000.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 716,062 shares in the company, valued at approximately $39,311,803.80. This trade represents a 4.02 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, COO Jonathan Young sold 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $28.03, for a total value of $280,300.00. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 218,083 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,112,866.49. The trade was a 4.38 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders acquired 341,309 shares of company stock worth $15,863,578 and sold 252,135 shares worth $12,345,079. Corporate insiders own 7.94% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Summit Investment Advisors Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Akero Therapeutics by 6.8% during the 4th quarter. Summit Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 7,092 shares of the company’s stock valued at $197,000 after purchasing an additional 450 shares in the last quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC lifted its stake in Akero Therapeutics by 8.5% in the fourth quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 7,886 shares of the company’s stock valued at $220,000 after buying an additional 621 shares in the last quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. lifted its stake in Akero Therapeutics by 1.6% in the fourth quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 41,442 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,153,000 after buying an additional 637 shares in the last quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB boosted its holdings in shares of Akero Therapeutics by 5.0% in the fourth quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB now owns 21,000 shares of the company’s stock valued at $584,000 after buying an additional 1,000 shares during the period. Finally, Swiss National Bank increased its position in shares of Akero Therapeutics by 1.2% during the fourth quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 95,600 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,660,000 after acquiring an additional 1,100 shares in the last quarter.

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.