Akero Therapeutics (NASDAQ:AKRO) Cut to Sell at Wall Street Zen

Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Akero Therapeutics (NASDAQ:AKRO) from a hold rating to a sell rating in a report published on Saturday.

A number of other research analysts have also recently issued reports on the stock. Wolfe Research cut shares of Akero Therapeutics from an “outperform” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday. HC Wainwright restated a “neutral” rating and set a $54.00 price objective (down previously from $72.00) on shares of Akero Therapeutics in a report on Friday. Weiss Ratings restated a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Akero Therapeutics in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Jefferies Financial Group cut shares of Akero Therapeutics from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and decreased their price objective for the company from $75.00 to $56.00 in a report on Thursday, October 9th. Finally, TD Cowen assumed coverage on shares of Akero Therapeutics in a report on Monday, August 4th. They set a “buy” rating and a $76.00 price objective for the company. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $73.38.

Akero Therapeutics Trading Down 0.4%

AKRO opened at $53.66 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.02, a current ratio of 12.66 and a quick ratio of 12.66. The company has a market cap of $4.29 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -26.83 and a beta of -0.29. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $47.25 and a 200 day simple moving average of $46.90. Akero Therapeutics has a fifty-two week low of $21.34 and a fifty-two week high of $58.40.

Akero Therapeutics (NASDAQ:AKRO) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Friday, August 8th. The company reported ($0.86) earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.97) by $0.11. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned ($0.81) EPS. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Akero Therapeutics will post -3.99 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Akero Therapeutics

In related news, CEO Andrew Cheng sold 30,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, September 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $43.25, for a total transaction of $1,297,500.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 475,698 shares in the company, valued at approximately $20,573,938.50. This represents a 5.93% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Catriona Yale sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $52.95, for a total transaction of $529,500.00. Following the transaction, the insider owned 91,488 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,844,289.60. The trade was a 9.85% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 149,253 shares of company stock worth $6,982,414. Company insiders own 7.07% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in AKRO. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its holdings in Akero Therapeutics by 8,057.1% during the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 10,849 shares of the company’s stock worth $439,000 after purchasing an additional 10,716 shares during the last quarter. Rhumbline Advisers raised its position in Akero Therapeutics by 4.7% during the first quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 110,687 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,481,000 after acquiring an additional 5,001 shares in the last quarter. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. bought a new stake in Akero Therapeutics during the first quarter worth $297,000. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. raised its position in Akero Therapeutics by 14.5% during the first quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 2,664 shares of the company’s stock worth $114,000 after acquiring an additional 338 shares in the last quarter. Finally, KBC Group NV bought a new stake in Akero Therapeutics during the first quarter worth $120,000.

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.