Akero Therapeutics (NASDAQ:AKRO) Releases Earnings Results, Misses Estimates By $0.01 EPS

Akero Therapeutics (NASDAQ:AKRO) released its quarterly earnings data on Friday. The company reported ($0.99) earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.98) by ($0.01), Zacks reports.

Akero Therapeutics Stock Performance

NASDAQ AKRO opened at $49.12 on Friday. Akero Therapeutics has a 1 year low of $17.86 and a 1 year high of $58.40. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.05, a current ratio of 17.25 and a quick ratio of 17.25. The firm has a market cap of $3.43 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -13.10 and a beta of -0.11. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $38.92 and a 200-day moving average price of $32.57.

Insider Transactions at Akero Therapeutics

In related news, insider Catriona Yale sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $49.87, for a total transaction of $498,700.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 95,648 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,769,965.76. This represents a 9.47 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Andrew Cheng sold 25,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $32.09, for a total transaction of $802,250.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 605,417 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $19,427,831.53. The trade was a 3.97 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 208,992 shares of company stock worth $9,633,413 in the last quarter. 7.94% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have weighed in on the stock. UBS Group upped their price objective 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. Canaccord Genuity Group upped their price objective 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 upped their price objective 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 upped their price objective for the stock from $35.00 to $63.00 in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, 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 report on Tuesday, January 28th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, Based on data from MarketBeat, Akero Therapeutics presently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $75.86.

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.