Akero Therapeutics (NASDAQ:AKRO) Earns Neutral Rating from Analysts at Bank of America

Equities research analysts at Bank of America started coverage on shares of Akero Therapeutics (NASDAQ:AKRO) in a research note issued on Monday, Marketbeat Ratings reports. The firm set a “neutral” rating and a $30.00 price target on the stock. Bank of America‘s price target indicates a potential upside of 42.86% from the stock’s current price.

Several other equities analysts also recently weighed in on AKRO. UBS Group raised their price objective on Akero Therapeutics from $39.00 to $42.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 5th. HC Wainwright raised their price target on Akero Therapeutics from $40.00 to $43.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, March 1st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $37.71.

Akero Therapeutics Stock Performance

NASDAQ AKRO opened at $21.00 on Monday. Akero Therapeutics has a 1-year low of $11.25 and a 1-year high of $58.38. The company has a market capitalization of $1.45 billion, a P/E ratio of -7.37 and a beta of -0.38. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $24.76 and a 200 day moving average price of $20.98. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.05, a current ratio of 29.27 and a quick ratio of 29.27.

Akero Therapeutics (NASDAQ:AKRO) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 29th. The company reported ($0.99) earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.82) by ($0.17). Sell-side analysts expect that Akero Therapeutics will post -4.06 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Akero Therapeutics news, COO Jonathan Young sold 5,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, April 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $24.38, for a total transaction of $121,900.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 263,306 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,419,400.28. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. In other news, COO Jonathan Young sold 5,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, April 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $24.38, for a total transaction of $121,900.00. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 263,306 shares in the company, valued at $6,419,400.28. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Andrew Cheng sold 75,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $32.87, for a total value of $2,465,250.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 591,416 shares in the company, valued at approximately $19,439,843.92. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 100,646 shares of company stock valued at $3,319,877. Corporate insiders own 9.69% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Akero Therapeutics

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Global Retirement Partners LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Akero Therapeutics by 54.5% during the first quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC now owns 5,747 shares of the company’s stock worth $145,000 after purchasing an additional 2,028 shares during the last quarter. Bourgeon Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in Akero Therapeutics in the first quarter valued at $383,000. Quattro Financial Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Akero Therapeutics by 43,378.3% in the first quarter. Quattro Financial Advisors LLC now owns 10,000 shares of the company’s stock valued at $253,000 after acquiring an additional 9,977 shares during the last quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in Akero Therapeutics in the first quarter valued at $211,000. Finally, Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its holdings in Akero Therapeutics by 247.7% in the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 2,881,989 shares of the company’s stock valued at $67,294,000 after acquiring an additional 2,053,028 shares during the last quarter.

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.