Cubist Systematic Strategies LLC Purchases Shares of 30,208 Akero Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:AKRO)

Cubist Systematic Strategies LLC purchased a new position in Akero Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:AKRO - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 30,208 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $840,000.

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lifted its holdings in 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 valued at $120,238,000 after buying an additional 513,613 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in Akero Therapeutics by 0.8% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 3,704,411 shares of the company's stock valued at $103,057,000 after buying an additional 27,830 shares in the last quarter. Rock Springs Capital Management LP raised its stake in Akero Therapeutics by 1.4% during the 4th quarter. Rock Springs Capital Management LP now owns 946,499 shares of the company's stock worth $26,332,000 after buying an additional 13,100 shares during the period. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. bought a new position in Akero Therapeutics in the fourth quarter worth approximately $18,059,000. Finally, Northern Trust Corp grew its stake in Akero Therapeutics by 6.1% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 620,321 shares of the company's stock valued at $17,257,000 after acquiring an additional 35,737 shares during the period.

Insider Buying and Selling at Akero Therapeutics

In related news, insider Catriona Yale sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $49.87, for a total value of $498,700.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 95,648 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,769,965.76. This trade represents a 9.47% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO Andrew Cheng sold 30,000 shares of Akero Therapeutics stock in a transaction on Thursday, April 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $35.23, for a total value of $1,056,900.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 624,324 shares of the company's stock, valued at $21,994,934.52. This represents a 4.58% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 219,208 shares of company stock valued at $9,218,994 in the last three months. Company insiders own 7.94% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Citigroup lowered their target price on Akero Therapeutics from $80.00 to $78.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, May 13th. Bank of America raised shares of Akero Therapeutics from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and raised their price objective for the company from $35.00 to $63.00 in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Morgan Stanley reissued an "overweight" rating on shares of Akero Therapeutics in a research report on Sunday, March 2nd. UBS Group upped their target price 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. Finally, Canaccord Genuity Group raised their price target on shares of Akero Therapeutics from $56.00 to $73.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and a consensus target price of $82.33.

Akero Therapeutics Stock Performance

NASDAQ:AKRO traded down $1.09 on Friday, reaching $38.87. 1,307,830 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 911,743. The firm has a market cap of $3.10 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -10.37 and a beta of -0.12. 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 stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $40.85 and a 200-day simple moving average of $37.83. Akero Therapeutics, Inc. has a 52 week low of $17.86 and a 52 week high of $58.40.

Akero Therapeutics (NASDAQ:AKRO - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, May 12th. The company reported $0.90 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of ($1.01) by $1.91. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Akero Therapeutics, Inc. will post -3.99 earnings per share for the current year.

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.