Emerald Mutual Fund Advisers Trust Sells 145,145 Shares of Akero Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:AKRO)

Emerald Mutual Fund Advisers Trust lessened its holdings in shares of Akero Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:AKRO - Free Report) by 41.2% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 207,035 shares of the company's stock after selling 145,145 shares during the quarter. Emerald Mutual Fund Advisers Trust owned approximately 0.26% of Akero Therapeutics worth $8,381,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the business. RTW Investments LP grew its stake in Akero Therapeutics by 15.9% in the fourth 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 during the period. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its stake 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 worth $120,238,000 after purchasing an additional 513,613 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in Akero Therapeutics by 0.8% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 3,704,411 shares of the company's stock worth $103,057,000 after purchasing an additional 27,830 shares during the period. Deep Track Capital LP grew its stake in Akero Therapeutics by 116.0% in the fourth quarter. Deep Track Capital LP now owns 1,490,000 shares of the company's stock worth $41,452,000 after purchasing an additional 800,216 shares during the period. Finally, SG Americas Securities LLC grew its stake in Akero Therapeutics by 93.3% in the first quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 1,155,787 shares of the company's stock worth $46,786,000 after purchasing an additional 557,794 shares during the period.

Insider Activity

In other news, CFO William Richard White sold 1,634 shares of Akero Therapeutics stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, June 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $54.84, for a total value of $89,608.56. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 57,521 shares in the company, valued at $3,154,451.64. The trade was a 2.76% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CTO Scott A. Gangloff sold 848 shares of Akero Therapeutics stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, June 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $54.84, for a total transaction of $46,504.32. Following the completion of the sale, the chief technology officer owned 23,452 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,286,107.68. This represents a 3.49% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 232,156 shares of company stock worth $11,589,728. 7.07% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on the company. Bank of America upped their price target on Akero Therapeutics from $63.00 to $64.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 27th. Citigroup reduced their price target on Akero Therapeutics from $80.00 to $78.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, May 13th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and a consensus target price of $82.50.

Akero Therapeutics Stock Down 1.8%

Shares of NASDAQ:AKRO traded down $0.97 on Tuesday, hitting $51.76. 980,244 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,054,111. Akero Therapeutics, Inc. has a 52 week low of $21.34 and a 52 week high of $58.40. The company has a quick ratio of 16.80, a current ratio of 16.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $49.74 and a 200-day simple moving average of $43.88. The company has a market cap of $4.13 billion, a PE ratio of -26.54 and a beta of -0.15.

Akero Therapeutics (NASDAQ:AKRO - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, May 12th. The company reported $0.90 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($1.01) by $1.91. As a group, research analysts expect that Akero Therapeutics, Inc. will post -3.99 earnings per share for the current year.

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.