Akero Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:AKRO) Shares Bought by RTW Investments LP

RTW Investments LP raised its position in Akero Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:AKRO) by 15.9% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 6,859,823 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 940,388 shares during the quarter. Akero Therapeutics makes up approximately 2.9% of RTW Investments LP’s portfolio, making the stock its 13th biggest position. RTW Investments LP owned 9.83% of Akero Therapeutics worth $190,840,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of AKRO. Sterling Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of Akero Therapeutics by 764.3% during the fourth quarter. Sterling Capital Management LLC now owns 1,789 shares of the company’s stock worth $50,000 after buying an additional 1,582 shares in the last quarter. Quarry LP acquired a new position in shares of Akero Therapeutics during the fourth quarter worth about $83,000. Summit Investment Advisors Inc. grew its position in shares of Akero Therapeutics by 6.8% during the fourth quarter. Summit Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 7,092 shares of the company’s stock worth $197,000 after buying an additional 450 shares in the last quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC grew its position in shares of Akero Therapeutics by 8.5% during the fourth quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 7,886 shares of the company’s stock worth $220,000 after buying an additional 621 shares in the last quarter. Finally, AlphaQuest LLC grew its position in shares of Akero Therapeutics by 32,588.0% during the fourth quarter. AlphaQuest LLC now owns 8,172 shares of the company’s stock worth $227,000 after buying an additional 8,147 shares in the last quarter.

Insider Activity

In other news, COO Jonathan Young sold 607 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $44.88, for a total transaction of $27,242.16. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 200,540 shares in the company, valued at $9,000,235.20. This represents a 0.30% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, Director G. Walmsley Graham purchased 91,309 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 25th. The shares were bought at an average price of $44.75 per share, with a total value of $4,086,077.75. Following the purchase, the director now directly owns 1,091,309 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $48,836,077.75. The trade was a 9.13% increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 219,208 shares of company stock valued at $9,218,994. 7.94% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Akero Therapeutics Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ AKRO opened at $39.96 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $3.18 billion, a P/E ratio of -10.66 and a beta of -0.12. Akero Therapeutics, Inc. has a twelve month low of $17.86 and a twelve month high of $58.40. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $40.95 and a two-hundred day moving average of $37.73. 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 posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, May 12th. The company reported $0.90 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($1.01) by $1.91. On average, research analysts forecast that Akero Therapeutics, Inc. will post -3.99 earnings per share for the current year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on the company. Morgan Stanley reissued an “overweight” rating on shares of Akero Therapeutics in a research report on Sunday, March 2nd. Canaccord Genuity Group boosted their price objective on Akero Therapeutics from $56.00 to $73.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. Bank of America raised Akero Therapeutics from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price target for the company from $35.00 to $63.00 in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Citigroup lowered their price target on Akero Therapeutics from $80.00 to $78.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday. Finally, UBS Group upped their price target on Akero Therapeutics from $42.00 to $109.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $82.33.

Akero Therapeutics 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.