G. Walmsley Graham Buys 50,000 Shares of Akero Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:AKRO) Stock

Akero Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:AKRO) Director G. Walmsley Graham purchased 50,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 27th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $43.55 per share, with a total value of $2,177,500.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 1,200,000 shares in the company, valued at $52,260,000. The trade was a 4.35 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website.

G. Walmsley Graham also recently made the following trade(s):

• On Tuesday, March 25th, G. Walmsley Graham bought 91,309 shares of Akero Therapeutics stock. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $44.75 per share, for a total transaction of $4,086,077.75.
• On Thursday, January 30th, G. Walmsley Graham purchased 200,000 shares of Akero Therapeutics stock. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $48.00 per share, with a total value of $9,600,000.00.

Akero Therapeutics Stock Up 0.7 %

AKRO traded up $0.29 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $43.58. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 441,531 shares, compared to its average volume of 805,011. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $45.66 and its 200-day moving average is $34.90. Akero Therapeutics, Inc. has a 1 year low of $17.86 and a 1 year high of $58.40. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.47 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -11.62 and a beta of -0.19. 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 results on Friday, February 28th. The company reported ($0.99) earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.98) by ($0.01). As a group, research analysts expect that Akero Therapeutics, Inc. will post -3.99 EPS for the current year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Akero Therapeutics

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of AKRO. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its position in shares of Akero Therapeutics by 54.4% during the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 7,896,632 shares of the company’s stock valued at $226,554,000 after acquiring an additional 2,782,029 shares in the last quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC increased its holdings in shares of Akero Therapeutics by 2.9% in the 3rd quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 7,077,478 shares of the company’s stock worth $203,053,000 after purchasing an additional 201,225 shares in the last quarter. RTW Investments LP increased its holdings in shares of Akero Therapeutics by 15.9% in the 4th quarter. RTW Investments LP now owns 6,859,823 shares of the company’s stock worth $190,840,000 after purchasing an additional 940,388 shares in the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD raised its stake in shares of Akero Therapeutics by 13.5% in the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 4,321,972 shares of the company’s stock worth $120,238,000 after purchasing an additional 513,613 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Akero Therapeutics by 0.8% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 3,704,411 shares of the company’s stock valued at $103,057,000 after purchasing an additional 27,830 shares in the last quarter.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have issued reports on the stock. Morgan Stanley reissued an “overweight” rating on shares of Akero Therapeutics in a research report on Sunday, March 2nd. HC Wainwright boosted their price target on shares of Akero Therapeutics from $72.00 to $75.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, March 3rd. UBS Group raised their price objective on shares of Akero Therapeutics from $42.00 to $109.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Citigroup lifted their price objective on Akero Therapeutics from $65.00 to $80.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. Finally, Canaccord Genuity Group increased their target price on Akero Therapeutics from $56.00 to $73.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $76.29.

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.