Akero Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:AKRO) Short Interest Down 5.4% in September

Akero Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:AKRO) saw a large drop in short interest in September. As of September 30th, there was short interest totalling 6,770,000 shares, a drop of 5.4% from the September 15th total of 7,160,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 569,400 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 11.9 days.

Akero Therapeutics Stock Performance

Shares of Akero Therapeutics stock opened at $31.23 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $2.16 billion, a PE ratio of -9.76 and a beta of -0.25. The company has a quick ratio of 24.89, a current ratio of 24.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04. Akero Therapeutics has a 52 week low of $11.25 and a 52 week high of $37.00. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $27.36 and its 200-day simple moving average is $24.24.

Akero Therapeutics (NASDAQ:AKRO) last posted its earnings results on Friday, August 9th. The company reported ($0.81) EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.90) by $0.09. Equities analysts forecast that Akero Therapeutics will post -3.64 earnings per share for the current year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Separately, HC Wainwright reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $50.00 price objective on shares of Akero Therapeutics in a report on Tuesday, September 17th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Akero Therapeutics presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $43.20.

Insider Buying and Selling at Akero Therapeutics

In other news, CEO Andrew Cheng sold 1,738 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $26.18, for a total transaction of $45,500.84. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 605,417 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $15,849,817.06. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. In other news, CEO Andrew Cheng sold 1,738 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $26.18, for a total transaction of $45,500.84. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 605,417 shares in the company, valued at $15,849,817.06. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Catriona Yale sold 5,200 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $27.51, for a total value of $143,052.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 75,931 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,088,861.81. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 393,398 shares of company stock worth $11,192,629. Corporate insiders own 7.94% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Akero Therapeutics

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in AKRO. Rheos Capital Works Inc. lifted its stake in Akero Therapeutics by 27.8% during the third quarter. Rheos Capital Works Inc. now owns 276,000 shares of the company’s stock worth $7,918,000 after purchasing an additional 60,000 shares in the last quarter. Creative Planning purchased a new position in Akero Therapeutics during the 3rd quarter valued at about $371,000. Handelsbanken Fonder AB grew its position in Akero Therapeutics by 12.4% in the 3rd quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB now owns 20,000 shares of the company’s stock valued at $574,000 after acquiring an additional 2,200 shares in the last quarter. Perceptive Advisors LLC increased its stake in Akero Therapeutics by 8.1% during the second quarter. Perceptive Advisors LLC now owns 1,499,897 shares of the company’s stock worth $35,188,000 after purchasing an additional 112,426 shares during the period. Finally, Long Focus Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Akero Therapeutics by 119.0% during the second quarter. Long Focus Capital Management LLC now owns 719,604 shares of the company’s stock worth $16,882,000 after purchasing an additional 391,000 shares in the last quarter.

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.