Akero Therapeutics (NASDAQ:AKRO) Cut to "Neutral" at HC Wainwright

Key Points

• HC Wainwright downgraded Akero Therapeutics from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating, reflecting a shift in analyst sentiment.
• The stock currently has a consensus rating of "hold" with an average price target of $73.38, despite various ratings from other brokerages.
• Insiders have recently sold a significant amount of shares, indicating potential concerns about the company's future performance amidst downgrades and mixed analyst ratings.

Akero Therapeutics (NASDAQ:AKRO - Get Free Report) was downgraded by HC Wainwright from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating in a note issued to investors on Friday, Marketbeat reports. They presently have a $54.00 target price on the stock, down from their previous target price of $72.00. HC Wainwright's price objective suggests a potential upside of 0.22% from the company's previous close.

AKRO has been the topic of a number of other research reports. TD Cowen began coverage on Akero Therapeutics in a report on Monday, August 4th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $76.00 price objective on the stock. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a "sell (d-)" rating on shares of Akero Therapeutics in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Cowen began coverage on Akero Therapeutics in a report on Monday, August 4th. They issued a "buy" rating on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group lowered Akero Therapeutics from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and decreased their price target for the stock from $75.00 to $56.00 in a research note on Thursday. Finally, Wall Street Zen lowered Akero Therapeutics from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research note on Saturday. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $73.38.

Akero Therapeutics Price Performance

Shares of AKRO opened at $53.88 on Friday. Akero Therapeutics has a twelve month low of $21.34 and a twelve month high of $58.40. The stock's 50 day moving average is $47.15 and its two-hundred day moving average is $46.83. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.31 billion, a PE ratio of -26.94 and a beta of -0.29. The company has a current ratio of 12.66, a quick ratio of 12.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.02.

Akero Therapeutics (NASDAQ:AKRO - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Friday, August 8th. The company reported ($0.86) earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of ($0.97) by $0.11. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted ($0.81) earnings per share. Research analysts anticipate that Akero Therapeutics will post -3.99 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Andrew Cheng sold 30,000 shares of Akero Therapeutics stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, September 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $43.25, for a total transaction of $1,297,500.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 475,698 shares in the company, valued at $20,573,938.50. The trade was a 5.93% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Timothy Rolph sold 12,500 shares of Akero Therapeutics stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $44.17, for a total value of $552,125.00. Following the transaction, the insider owned 167,124 shares of the company's stock, valued at $7,381,867.08. This represents a 6.96% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 149,253 shares of company stock valued at $6,982,414. 7.07% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of AKRO. Holocene Advisors LP acquired a new position in shares of Akero Therapeutics during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $57,396,000. Bank of America Corp DE raised its holdings in Akero Therapeutics by 406.7% in the 2nd quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 1,320,461 shares of the company's stock valued at $70,460,000 after acquiring an additional 1,059,860 shares during the last quarter. Bellevue Group AG raised its holdings in Akero Therapeutics by 58.7% in the 2nd quarter. Bellevue Group AG now owns 1,985,272 shares of the company's stock valued at $105,934,000 after acquiring an additional 734,606 shares during the last quarter. Lord Abbett & CO. LLC acquired a new position in Akero Therapeutics in the 1st quarter valued at $21,333,000. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in Akero Therapeutics by 14.2% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 4,230,644 shares of the company's stock valued at $171,256,000 after acquiring an additional 526,233 shares during the last quarter.

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.