Jefferies Financial Group Inc. Makes New $324,000 Investment in Akero Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:AKRO)

Key Points

• Jefferies Financial Group Inc. has acquired a new stake in Akero Therapeutics, purchasing 8,000 shares valued at approximately $324,000 in the first quarter.
• Insider Timothy Rolph sold 12,500 shares at an average price of $49.30, totaling $616,250, reducing his position by nearly 7%.
• According to analysts, Akero Therapeutics has a consensus rating of "Buy", with price targets ranging from $64.00 to $81.57 following recent evaluations from major research firms.

Jefferies Financial Group Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Akero Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:AKRO - Free Report) during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund bought 8,000 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $324,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in AKRO. Sei Investments Co. acquired a new position in shares of Akero Therapeutics during the 4th quarter valued at $303,000. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Akero Therapeutics by 0.8% in 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 during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its stake in shares of Akero Therapeutics by 8.2% in the fourth quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 528,207 shares of the company's stock valued at $14,695,000 after purchasing an additional 40,161 shares during the period. ExodusPoint Capital Management LP boosted its stake in shares of Akero Therapeutics by 15.9% in the fourth quarter. ExodusPoint Capital Management LP now owns 55,207 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,536,000 after purchasing an additional 7,575 shares during the period. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company MN boosted its stake in shares of Akero Therapeutics by 14.0% in the fourth quarter. Wells Fargo & Company MN now owns 61,867 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,721,000 after purchasing an additional 7,587 shares during the period.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on AKRO. TD Cowen began coverage on shares of Akero Therapeutics in a research note on Monday, August 4th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $76.00 target price for the company. Citigroup decreased their target price on shares of Akero Therapeutics from $80.00 to $78.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, May 13th. Cowen began coverage on shares of Akero Therapeutics in a research note on Monday, August 4th. They issued a "buy" rating for the company. Finally, Bank of America upped their target price on shares of Akero Therapeutics from $63.00 to $64.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 27th. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, According to data from MarketBeat, Akero Therapeutics has an average rating of "Buy" and an average price target of $81.57.

Insider Buying and Selling at Akero Therapeutics

In other Akero Therapeutics news, CEO Andrew Cheng sold 37,837 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $54.05, for a total transaction of $2,045,089.85. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 556,487 shares in the company, valued at $30,078,122.35. This represents a 6.37% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, insider Timothy Rolph sold 25,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, June 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $55.04, for a total transaction of $1,376,000.00. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 169,721 shares in the company, valued at $9,341,443.84. This trade represents a 12.84% decrease in their ownership of the stock. 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 ninety days. 7.07% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Akero Therapeutics Stock Down 2.0%

NASDAQ AKRO traded down $0.99 during trading hours on Tuesday, reaching $47.29. 161,830 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,423,860. Akero Therapeutics, Inc. has a 12 month low of $21.34 and a 12 month high of $58.40. The company has a current ratio of 16.80, a quick ratio of 16.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.77 billion, a PE ratio of -23.62 and a beta of -0.28. The company has a 50 day moving average of $52.29 and a two-hundred day moving average of $47.33.

Akero Therapeutics (NASDAQ:AKRO - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Friday, August 8th. The company reported ($0.86) EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of ($0.97) by $0.11. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned ($0.81) EPS. As a group, equities analysts expect that Akero Therapeutics, Inc. will post -3.99 earnings per share for the current year.

Akero Therapeutics 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.