Insider Selling: Akero Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:AKRO) COO Sells 10,000 Shares of Stock

Akero Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:AKRO) COO Jonathan Young sold 10,000 shares of Akero Therapeutics stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $28.03, for a total transaction of $280,300.00. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 218,083 shares in the company, valued at $6,112,866.49. This represents a 4.38 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website.

Jonathan Young also recently made the following trade(s):

• On Tuesday, December 10th, Jonathan Young sold 2,503 shares of Akero Therapeutics stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $30.79, for a total value of $77,067.37.
• On Monday, December 2nd, Jonathan Young sold 10,000 shares of Akero Therapeutics stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $32.13, for a total value of $321,300.00.
• On Friday, November 1st, Jonathan Young sold 50,716 shares of Akero Therapeutics stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $31.57, for a total value of $1,601,104.12.
• On Monday, October 14th, Jonathan Young sold 40,000 shares of Akero Therapeutics stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $30.15, for a total transaction of $1,206,000.00.

Akero Therapeutics Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:AKRO traded down $0.60 during midday trading on Monday, hitting $27.64. The stock had a trading volume of 648,298 shares, compared to its average volume of 829,566. The company has a market capitalization of $1.93 billion, a PE ratio of -7.37 and a beta of -0.19. Akero Therapeutics, Inc. has a 1 year low of $15.32 and a 1 year high of $37.00. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $30.54 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $27.91. The company has a current ratio of 17.25, a quick ratio of 17.25 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.05.

Akero Therapeutics (NASDAQ:AKRO) last issued its earnings results on Friday, November 8th. The company reported ($1.05) EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.90) by ($0.15). As a group, equities analysts predict that Akero Therapeutics, Inc. will post -3.96 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Akero Therapeutics

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its holdings in Akero Therapeutics by 54.4% during 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 last quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC lifted its position 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 valued at $203,053,000 after acquiring an additional 201,225 shares in the last quarter. RTW Investments LP boosted its stake in shares of Akero Therapeutics by 9.0% during the third quarter. RTW Investments LP now owns 5,919,435 shares of the company’s stock valued at $169,829,000 after acquiring an additional 487,450 shares during the last quarter. Perceptive Advisors LLC increased its position in Akero Therapeutics by 8.1% during the 2nd 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 in the last quarter. Finally, Point72 Asset Management L.P. acquired a new position in Akero Therapeutics in the 3rd quarter valued at about $37,392,000.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on AKRO. Citigroup began coverage on shares of Akero Therapeutics in a research note on Monday, November 18th. They set a “buy” rating and a $65.00 price target for the company. HC Wainwright reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $50.00 target price on shares of Akero Therapeutics in a research note on Monday, November 18th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $46.83.

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.