Akero Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:AKRO) Director G. Walmsley Graham Purchases 200,000 Shares

Akero Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:AKRO) Director G. Walmsley Graham bought 200,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 30th. The shares were bought at an average price of $48.00 per share, with a total value of $9,600,000.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now directly owns 1,000,000 shares in the company, valued at $48,000,000. This trade represents a 25.00 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website.

Akero Therapeutics Stock Performance

Akero Therapeutics stock opened at $54.21 on Monday. The stock has a market cap of $3.78 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -14.46 and a beta of -0.11. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.05, a quick ratio of 17.25 and a current ratio of 17.25. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $33.04 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $30.05. Akero Therapeutics, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $17.84 and a fifty-two week high of $58.40.

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on AKRO shares. UBS Group increased their price objective on Akero Therapeutics from $42.00 to $109.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Citigroup raised their price target on shares of Akero Therapeutics from $65.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. Bank of America raised shares of Akero Therapeutics from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price objective for the company from $35.00 to $63.00 in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. HC Wainwright raised their target price on Akero Therapeutics from $50.00 to $72.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Finally, Canaccord Genuity Group upped their price target on Akero Therapeutics from $56.00 to $73.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $75.86.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its stake in 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 purchasing 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 approximately $37,392,000. SG Americas Securities LLC grew its holdings in shares of Akero Therapeutics by 4,022.1% in the fourth quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 597,993 shares of the company’s stock worth $16,636,000 after acquiring an additional 583,486 shares during the period. RTW Investments LP grew its stake in shares of Akero Therapeutics by 9.0% during the 3rd 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 period. Finally, Janus Henderson Group PLC grew its position in Akero Therapeutics by 2.9% during the third quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 7,077,478 shares of the company’s stock valued at $203,053,000 after buying an additional 201,225 shares during the period.

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.