Insider Selling: Akero Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:AKRO) Insider Sells $556,625.00 in Stock

Akero Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:AKRO) insider Timothy Rolph sold 12,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $44.53, for a total transaction of $556,625.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 170,237 shares in the company, valued at $7,580,653.61. This represents a 6.84 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website.

Timothy Rolph also recently made the following trade(s):

• On Wednesday, February 5th, Timothy Rolph sold 18,750 shares of Akero Therapeutics stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $56.51, for a total transaction of $1,059,562.50.
• On Monday, January 27th, Timothy Rolph sold 31,250 shares of Akero Therapeutics stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $55.77, for a total transaction of $1,742,812.50.
• On Tuesday, December 10th, Timothy Rolph sold 4,818 shares of Akero Therapeutics stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $30.91, for a total transaction of $148,924.38.

Akero Therapeutics Price Performance

NASDAQ AKRO opened at $42.12 on Monday. Akero Therapeutics, Inc. has a 12-month low of $17.86 and a 12-month high of $58.40. 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 firm’s 50 day moving average is $40.49 and its 200-day moving average is $33.28. The company has a market capitalization of $3.35 billion, a PE ratio of -11.23 and a beta of -0.19.

Akero Therapeutics (NASDAQ:AKRO) last released its earnings results 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). Equities research analysts anticipate that Akero Therapeutics, Inc. will post -3.99 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Akero Therapeutics

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Summit Investment Advisors Inc. grew its stake in shares of Akero Therapeutics by 6.8% in the fourth quarter. Summit Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 7,092 shares of the company’s stock valued at $197,000 after buying an additional 450 shares in the last quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC grew its stake in shares of 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. grew its stake in shares of 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 position in Akero Therapeutics by 5.0% during the fourth quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB now owns 21,000 shares of the company’s stock worth $584,000 after purchasing an additional 1,000 shares during the period. Finally, Swiss National Bank boosted its position in 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 purchasing an additional 1,100 shares during the period.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have commented on the stock. Citigroup raised their target price 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. Canaccord Genuity Group raised their target price on shares of Akero Therapeutics from $56.00 to $73.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on shares of Akero Therapeutics from $46.00 to $96.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. Bank of America upgraded shares of Akero Therapeutics from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their target price for the stock from $35.00 to $63.00 in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, UBS Group raised their target price on shares of Akero Therapeutics from $42.00 to $109.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price 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.