Akero Therapeutics (NASDAQ:AKRO) Announces Quarterly Earnings Results

Akero Therapeutics (NASDAQ:AKRO) announced its earnings results on Friday. The company reported ($0.99) EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.94) by ($0.05), FiscalAI reports.

Akero Therapeutics Trading Up 0.2%

Shares of Akero Therapeutics stock traded up $0.13 on Friday, reaching $54.04. The company had a trading volume of 1,117,918 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,519,731. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $49.21 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $49.01. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.02, a quick ratio of 12.66 and a current ratio of 12.66. Akero Therapeutics has a 52-week low of $21.34 and a 52-week high of $58.40. The firm has a market cap of $4.32 billion, a PE ratio of -27.02 and a beta of -0.35.

Insider Transactions at Akero Therapeutics

In other Akero Therapeutics news, insider Catriona Yale sold 659 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $43.02, for a total transaction of $28,350.18. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 90,829 shares in the company, valued at $3,907,463.58. This represents a 0.72% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Andrew Cheng sold 30,000 shares of Akero Therapeutics stock in a transaction on Friday, October 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $53.98, for a total value of $1,619,400.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 526,114 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $28,399,633.72. The trade was a 5.39% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold 156,753 shares of company stock worth $7,456,064 in the last three months. Company insiders own 7.07% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in AKRO. Holocene Advisors LP acquired a new stake in shares of Akero Therapeutics during the 2nd quarter worth about $57,396,000. Bank of America Corp DE increased its stake in Akero Therapeutics by 406.7% in the second quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 1,320,461 shares of the company’s stock valued at $70,460,000 after purchasing an additional 1,059,860 shares during the last quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. raised its holdings in Akero Therapeutics by 22.8% during the second quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 1,536,200 shares of the company’s stock worth $81,972,000 after purchasing an additional 284,831 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp raised its holdings in Akero Therapeutics by 10.1% during the second quarter. State Street Corp now owns 2,745,564 shares of the company’s stock worth $146,503,000 after purchasing an additional 250,821 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Perceptive Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Akero Therapeutics by 15.5% during the 2nd quarter. Perceptive Advisors LLC now owns 915,887 shares of the company’s stock worth $48,872,000 after buying an additional 122,927 shares during the last quarter.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on AKRO. Lifesci Capital lowered Akero Therapeutics from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 9th. Cowen initiated coverage on Akero Therapeutics in a report on Monday, August 4th. They issued a “buy” rating on the stock. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Akero Therapeutics from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Saturday, October 11th. Jefferies Financial Group cut shares of Akero Therapeutics from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and reduced their target price for the company from $75.00 to $56.00 in a research report on Thursday, October 9th. Finally, Zacks Research downgraded shares of Akero Therapeutics from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, October 10th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $73.38.

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.