Insider Selling: Akero Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:AKRO) CEO Sells 30,000 Shares of Stock

Akero Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:AKRO) CEO Andrew Cheng sold 30,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $41.77, for a total transaction of $1,253,100.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 656,062 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $27,403,709.74. This trade represents a 4.37 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink.

Andrew Cheng also recently made the following trade(s):

• On Monday, February 10th, Andrew Cheng sold 30,000 shares of Akero Therapeutics stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $52.73, for a total transaction of $1,581,900.00.
• On Monday, January 27th, Andrew Cheng sold 30,000 shares of Akero Therapeutics stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $54.90, for a total transaction of $1,647,000.00.

Akero Therapeutics Price Performance

NASDAQ:AKRO traded up $2.03 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, reaching $45.85. The stock had a trading volume of 1,222,853 shares, compared to its average volume of 846,802. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.65 billion, a P/E ratio of -12.23 and a beta of -0.19. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $41.09 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $33.51. 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, Inc. has a one year low of $17.86 and a one year high of $58.40.

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

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Simplify Asset Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Akero Therapeutics by 15.6% during the 3rd quarter. Simplify Asset Management Inc. now owns 283,766 shares of the company’s stock valued at $8,141,000 after acquiring an additional 38,279 shares during the period. abrdn plc lifted its position in Akero Therapeutics by 118.7% in the fourth quarter. abrdn plc now owns 269,782 shares of the company’s stock valued at $7,505,000 after purchasing an additional 146,424 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC boosted its stake in shares of Akero Therapeutics by 732.1% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 30,337 shares of the company’s stock valued at $870,000 after purchasing an additional 26,691 shares during the period. SG Americas Securities LLC boosted 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 during the period. Finally, Barclays PLC grew its holdings in shares of Akero Therapeutics by 127.9% in the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 127,668 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,662,000 after purchasing an additional 71,652 shares during the last quarter.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

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

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.