Andrew Cheng Sells 30,000 Shares of Akero Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:AKRO) Stock

Akero Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:AKRO) CEO Andrew Cheng sold 30,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $54.90, for a total transaction of $1,647,000.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 716,062 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $39,311,803.80. This represents a 4.02 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link.

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

• On Tuesday, December 10th, Andrew Cheng sold 7,855 shares of Akero Therapeutics stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $30.79, for a total transaction of $241,855.45.
• On Monday, December 2nd, Andrew Cheng sold 25,000 shares of Akero Therapeutics stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $32.09, for a total value of $802,250.00.
• On Friday, November 1st, Andrew Cheng sold 108,366 shares of Akero Therapeutics stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $31.73, for a total transaction of $3,438,453.18.

Akero Therapeutics Price Performance

Shares of AKRO traded up $2.53 during midday trading on Wednesday, hitting $54.00. 3,613,883 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,167,465. The stock has a market cap of $3.77 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -14.40 and a beta of -0.19. Akero Therapeutics, Inc. has a 52 week low of $15.32 and a 52 week high of $58.40. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $29.31 and a 200-day moving average of $28.51. 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 (NASDAQ:AKRO) last released its quarterly earnings data 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). On average, analysts forecast that Akero Therapeutics, Inc. will post -3.96 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in AKRO. Wellington Management Group LLP increased 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 valued at $226,554,000 after buying an additional 2,782,029 shares during the period. Point72 Asset Management L.P. purchased a new stake in Akero Therapeutics during the third quarter worth $37,392,000. SG Americas Securities LLC grew its stake in Akero Therapeutics by 4,022.1% in the 4th quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 597,993 shares of the company’s stock valued at $16,636,000 after acquiring an additional 583,486 shares during the last quarter. RTW Investments LP increased 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 worth $169,829,000 after purchasing an additional 487,450 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Janus Henderson Group PLC raised its holdings in shares of Akero Therapeutics by 2.9% in the third quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 7,077,478 shares of the company’s stock worth $203,053,000 after acquiring an additional 201,225 shares during the last quarter.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on the stock. 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. HC Wainwright boosted their target price on Akero Therapeutics from $50.00 to $72.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on Akero Therapeutics from $46.00 to $96.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Finally, Canaccord Genuity Group raised their price target on shares of Akero Therapeutics from $56.00 to $73.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $61.57.

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.