Great Lakes Advisors LLC Purchases Shares of 193,384 Akero Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:AKRO)

Great Lakes Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Akero Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:AKRO) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 193,384 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,380,000. Great Lakes Advisors LLC owned approximately 0.28% of Akero Therapeutics at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of AKRO. Victory Capital Management Inc. acquired a new stake in Akero Therapeutics during the 3rd quarter valued at $211,000. Simplify Asset Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Akero Therapeutics by 15.6% during the third quarter. Simplify Asset Management Inc. now owns 283,766 shares of the company’s stock worth $8,141,000 after purchasing an additional 38,279 shares during the last quarter. LMR Partners LLP increased its stake in shares of Akero Therapeutics by 17.0% in the third quarter. LMR Partners LLP now owns 20,597 shares of the company’s stock valued at $591,000 after buying an additional 2,997 shares in the last quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Akero Therapeutics in the third quarter valued at about $491,000. Finally, Algert Global LLC lifted its position in Akero Therapeutics by 8.3% during the 3rd quarter. Algert Global LLC now owns 68,052 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,952,000 after buying an additional 5,191 shares in the last quarter.

Insider Buying and Selling at Akero Therapeutics

In other news, VP Patrick Lamy sold 1,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, December 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $29.13, for a total value of $29,130.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 34,258 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $997,935.54. The trade was a 2.84 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, COO Jonathan Young sold 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $28.03, for a total transaction of $280,300.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 218,083 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,112,866.49. This represents a 4.38 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 248,574 shares of company stock valued at $12,027,614. Corporate insiders own 7.94% of the company’s stock.

Akero Therapeutics Stock Down 2.2 %

Shares of Akero Therapeutics stock opened at $44.86 on Friday. Akero Therapeutics, Inc. has a 12 month low of $17.86 and a 12 month high of $58.40. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $41.78 and a 200 day simple moving average of $33.67. The company has a quick ratio of 17.25, a current ratio of 17.25 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.05. The stock has a market cap of $3.57 billion, a PE ratio of -11.96 and a beta of -0.19.

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have weighed in on AKRO. HC Wainwright raised their price objective on shares of Akero Therapeutics from $72.00 to $75.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, March 3rd. Bank of America upgraded shares of Akero Therapeutics from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $35.00 to $63.00 in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. UBS Group upped 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 lifted their target price on Akero Therapeutics from $65.00 to $80.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. Finally, Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an “overweight” rating on shares of Akero Therapeutics in a research note on Sunday, March 2nd. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, According to data from MarketBeat, Akero Therapeutics currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $76.29.

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.