Akero Therapeutics (NASDAQ:AKRO) Issues Quarterly Earnings Results

Key Points

• Akero Therapeutics reported a quarterly EPS of ($0.86), surpassing expectations by $0.09 against a consensus estimate of ($0.95).
• The company's stock rose 0.4% during trading, reaching a price of $50.66, with a market cap of approximately $4.04 billion.
• Analysts maintain a consensus "Buy" rating on Akero Therapeutics, with prices targets varying, most notably increased to $64.00 by Bank of America.

Akero Therapeutics (NASDAQ:AKRO - Get Free Report) announced its earnings results on Friday. The company reported ($0.86) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of ($0.97) by $0.11, Zacks reports. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted ($0.81) EPS.

Akero Therapeutics Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:AKRO traded down $0.90 on Tuesday, hitting $47.39. The stock had a trading volume of 89,499 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,423,468. Akero Therapeutics has a twelve month low of $21.34 and a twelve month high of $58.40. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03, a quick ratio of 16.80 and a current ratio of 16.80. The firm's 50 day moving average price is $52.29 and its 200-day moving average price is $47.33. The company has a market capitalization of $3.78 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -23.68 and a beta of -0.28.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, insider Timothy Rolph sold 12,500 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $49.30, for a total value of $616,250.00. Following the sale, the insider owned 167,124 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,239,213.20. The trade was a 6.96% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, VP Patrick Lamy sold 2,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $52.88, for a total transaction of $105,760.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president owned 29,891 shares in the company, valued at $1,580,636.08. This represents a 6.27% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 197,906 shares of company stock worth $10,351,845 in the last three months. Company insiders own 7.07% of the company's stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. lifted its position in Akero Therapeutics by 6.7% during the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 488,392 shares of the company's stock worth $19,770,000 after buying an additional 30,868 shares in the last quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC lifted its position in Akero Therapeutics by 53.8% during the 1st quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 109,909 shares of the company's stock worth $4,449,000 after buying an additional 38,458 shares in the last quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. lifted its position in Akero Therapeutics by 15.4% during the 1st quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 47,818 shares of the company's stock worth $1,943,000 after buying an additional 6,376 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada lifted its position in Akero Therapeutics by 14.0% during the 1st quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 26,602 shares of the company's stock worth $1,077,000 after buying an additional 3,263 shares in the last quarter.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on AKRO shares. Bank of America lifted their price target on shares of Akero Therapeutics from $63.00 to $64.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 27th. Citigroup decreased their price target on shares of Akero Therapeutics from $80.00 to $78.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, May 13th. Cowen started coverage on shares of Akero Therapeutics in a research note on Monday, August 4th. They set a "buy" rating on the stock. Finally, TD Cowen started coverage on shares of Akero Therapeutics in a research note on Monday, August 4th. They set a "buy" rating and a $76.00 price target on the stock. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Buy" and an average price target of $81.57.

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.