Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD Has $195 Million Stake in Akero Therapeutics, Inc. $AKRO

Key Points

• Price T Rowe Associates Inc. increased its stake in Akero Therapeutics by 11.5%, acquiring an additional 495,119 shares, which brings their total ownership to approximately 4.82 million shares valued at $195 million.
• Multiple analysts have recently upgraded their ratings on Akero Therapeutics, with a consensus price target of $81.57 and eight analysts rating the stock as a "buy."
• Insider trading activity included COO Jonathan Young selling 12,500 shares and CEO Andrew Cheng selling 37,837 shares, reflecting notable decreases in their respective positions within the company.

Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its holdings in shares of Akero Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:AKRO - Free Report) by 11.5% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 4,817,091 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 495,119 shares during the period. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD owned about 6.05% of Akero Therapeutics worth $194,997,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of AKRO. Wells Fargo & Company MN increased its position in Akero Therapeutics by 14.0% during the 4th quarter. Wells Fargo & Company MN now owns 61,867 shares of the company's stock worth $1,721,000 after purchasing an additional 7,587 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. boosted its stake in shares of Akero Therapeutics by 27.3% during the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 98,463 shares of the company's stock valued at $2,739,000 after purchasing an additional 21,086 shares in the last quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC acquired a new stake in Akero Therapeutics in the fourth quarter valued at $579,000. Barclays PLC increased its holdings in Akero Therapeutics by 4.0% in the fourth quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 132,837 shares of the company's stock valued at $3,695,000 after purchasing an additional 5,169 shares during the period. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its holdings in Akero Therapeutics by 6,229.1% in the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 449,110 shares of the company's stock valued at $12,495,000 after purchasing an additional 442,014 shares during the period.

Insider Activity at Akero Therapeutics

In other news, COO Jonathan Young sold 12,500 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $47.79, for a total transaction of $597,375.00. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer owned 197,484 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,437,760.36. This represents a 5.95% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Catriona Yale sold 10,000 shares of Akero Therapeutics stock in a transaction on Monday, June 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $54.23, for a total transaction of $542,300.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 92,231 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $5,001,687.13. The trade was a 9.78% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 226,406 shares of company stock worth $11,813,920 over the last three months. 7.07% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Akero Therapeutics Trading Down 0.4%

NASDAQ AKRO traded down $0.21 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $46.73. 497,456 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,012,144. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $50.59 and a 200 day simple moving average of $46.89. Akero Therapeutics, Inc. has a 1-year low of $21.34 and a 1-year high of $58.40. The firm has a market cap of $3.74 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -23.37 and a beta of -0.28. 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 the consensus estimate of ($0.97) by $0.11. During the same quarter last year, the business posted ($0.81) EPS. On average, equities analysts forecast that Akero Therapeutics, Inc. will post -3.99 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms recently weighed in on AKRO. Citigroup decreased their price objective on Akero Therapeutics from $80.00 to $78.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, May 13th. Bank of America increased their price objective on Akero Therapeutics from $63.00 to $64.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, May 27th. Cowen started coverage on shares of Akero Therapeutics in a research report on Monday, August 4th. They issued a "buy" rating on the stock. TD Cowen started coverage on shares of Akero Therapeutics in a research report on Monday, August 4th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $76.00 price target on the stock. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Akero Therapeutics from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Saturday, August 16th. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Buy" and an average price target of $81.57.

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.