North Star Asset Management Inc. Invests $304,000 in Akero Therapeutics, Inc. $AKRO

North Star Asset Management Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Akero Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:AKRO) during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund purchased 5,700 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $304,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in AKRO. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. boosted its position in Akero Therapeutics by 31.2% in the first quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 13,334 shares of the company’s stock valued at $540,000 after buying an additional 3,170 shares in the last quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Akero Therapeutics by 385.4% in the 1st quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 35,116 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,421,000 after acquiring an additional 27,881 shares during the last quarter. Allianz Asset Management GmbH acquired a new stake in shares of Akero Therapeutics during the 1st quarter valued at $518,000. Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH bought a new stake in Akero Therapeutics during the 1st quarter worth $463,000. Finally, Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken AB publ acquired a new position in Akero Therapeutics in the 1st quarter worth about $311,000.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have recently commented on AKRO shares. Zacks Research lowered Akero Therapeutics from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, October 10th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Akero Therapeutics in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Canaccord Genuity Group cut shares of Akero Therapeutics from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and decreased their price target for the company from $73.00 to $54.00 in a research report on Thursday, October 9th. Cowen initiated coverage on shares of Akero Therapeutics in a research note on Monday, August 4th. They set a “buy” rating for the company. Finally, Wolfe Research cut shares of Akero Therapeutics from an “outperform” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, October 10th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $73.38.

Akero Therapeutics Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ AKRO opened at $54.36 on Wednesday. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $51.58 and its 200-day moving average price is $50.11. Akero Therapeutics, Inc. has a 52-week low of $21.34 and a 52-week high of $58.40. The company has a market capitalization of $4.47 billion, a P/E ratio of -28.02 and a beta of -0.35.

Akero Therapeutics (NASDAQ:AKRO) last announced its earnings results on Friday, November 7th. The company reported ($0.99) earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.94) by ($0.05). Analysts forecast that Akero Therapeutics, Inc. will post -3.99 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Akero Therapeutics

In other news, CFO William Richard White sold 659 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $43.02, for a total value of $28,350.18. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 57,752 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,484,491.04. The trade was a 1.13% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, COO Jonathan Young sold 12,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $46.08, for a total value of $576,000.00. Following the sale, the chief operating officer owned 197,484 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,100,062.72. The trade was a 5.95% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 114,253 shares of company stock worth $5,400,989. Corporate insiders own 7.07% of the company’s stock.

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.