Profund Advisors LLC Grows Stock Holdings in Akero Therapeutics, Inc. $AKRO

Profund Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Akero Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:AKRO) by 23.4% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 19,805 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 3,757 shares during the quarter. Profund Advisors LLC’s holdings in Akero Therapeutics were worth $1,057,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of AKRO. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Akero Therapeutics by 30.8% during the 1st quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 1,658 shares of the company’s stock worth $67,000 after acquiring an additional 390 shares in the last quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. lifted its stake in Akero Therapeutics by 15.6% during the second quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 3,079 shares of the company’s stock worth $164,000 after purchasing an additional 415 shares during the last quarter. Summit Investment Advisors Inc. boosted its holdings in Akero Therapeutics by 6.3% in the first quarter. Summit Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 7,542 shares of the company’s stock valued at $305,000 after purchasing an additional 450 shares in the last quarter. FNY Investment Advisers LLC acquired a new stake in Akero Therapeutics during the second quarter worth approximately $28,000. Finally, Hsbc Holdings PLC lifted its position in shares of Akero Therapeutics by 9.7% during the 1st quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 8,647 shares of the company’s stock worth $343,000 after buying an additional 761 shares during the last quarter.

Akero Therapeutics Trading Up 0.2%

Akero Therapeutics stock opened at $54.25 on Wednesday. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $49.54 and a two-hundred day moving average of $49.34. Akero Therapeutics, Inc. has a twelve month low of $21.34 and a twelve month high of $58.40. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.47 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -27.96 and a beta of -0.35.

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts recently commented on AKRO shares. Canaccord Genuity Group lowered shares of Akero Therapeutics from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and cut their price target for the stock from $73.00 to $54.00 in a research note on Thursday, October 9th. Jefferies Financial Group cut Akero Therapeutics from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and cut their target price for the stock from $75.00 to $56.00 in a research report on Thursday, October 9th. TD Cowen downgraded Akero Therapeutics from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, October 10th. Cowen began coverage on Akero Therapeutics in a research report on Monday, August 4th. They set a “buy” rating on the stock. Finally, Weiss Ratings reissued a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Akero Therapeutics in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Akero Therapeutics has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $73.38.

Insider Activity at Akero Therapeutics

In related news, CEO Andrew Cheng sold 30,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, September 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $43.25, for a total value of $1,297,500.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 475,698 shares in the company, valued at $20,573,938.50. This trade represents a 5.93% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, insider Timothy Rolph sold 12,500 shares of Akero Therapeutics stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $44.17, for a total value of $552,125.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 167,124 shares in the company, valued at $7,381,867.08. This represents a 6.96% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold 114,253 shares of company stock worth $5,400,989 in the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 7.07% of the company’s stock.

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.