Akero Therapeutics (NASDAQ:AKRO) Releases Quarterly Earnings Results, Misses Expectations By $0.01 EPS

Akero Therapeutics (NASDAQ:AKRO) released its quarterly earnings data on Friday. The company reported ($0.99) earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.98) by ($0.01), Zacks reports.

Akero Therapeutics Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:AKRO traded up $0.59 during trading on Friday, hitting $48.34. 260,456 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,555,983. Akero Therapeutics has a 52-week low of $17.86 and a 52-week high of $58.40. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $38.53 and a 200 day moving average of $32.34. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.05, a current ratio of 17.25 and a quick ratio of 17.25. The company has a market cap of $3.37 billion, a PE ratio of -12.90 and a beta of -0.11.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on the company. Citigroup boosted their price objective on Akero Therapeutics from $65.00 to $80.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. Bank of America upgraded shares of Akero Therapeutics from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price target for the company from $35.00 to $63.00 in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. UBS Group raised their price objective on shares of Akero Therapeutics from $42.00 to $109.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. HC Wainwright lifted their price objective on shares of Akero Therapeutics from $50.00 to $72.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, January 27th. Finally, Canaccord Genuity Group upped their target price on shares of Akero Therapeutics from $56.00 to $73.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, Based on data from MarketBeat, Akero Therapeutics has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $75.86.

Insider Activity

In other news, VP Patrick Lamy sold 925 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, December 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $30.79, for a total value of $28,480.75. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 17,858 shares in the company, valued at approximately $549,847.82. This trade represents a 4.92 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, COO Jonathan Young sold 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $32.13, for a total transaction of $321,300.00. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 206,286 shares in the company, valued at $6,627,969.18. This trade represents a 4.62 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 208,992 shares of company stock worth $9,633,413. 7.94% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.