Principal Financial Group Inc. Buys Shares of 257,025 Akero Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:AKRO)

Principal Financial Group Inc. purchased a new position in Akero Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:AKRO - Free Report) in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund purchased 257,025 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $10,404,000. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned approximately 0.32% of Akero Therapeutics as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of AKRO. RTW Investments LP raised its holdings in shares of Akero Therapeutics by 15.9% in the 4th quarter. RTW Investments LP now owns 6,859,823 shares of the company's stock valued at $190,840,000 after purchasing an additional 940,388 shares in the last quarter. Deep Track Capital LP raised its holdings in shares of Akero Therapeutics by 116.0% in the 4th quarter. Deep Track Capital LP now owns 1,490,000 shares of the company's stock valued at $41,452,000 after purchasing an additional 800,216 shares in the last quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. acquired a new stake in shares of Akero Therapeutics in the 4th quarter valued at $18,059,000. SG Americas Securities LLC raised its holdings in shares of Akero Therapeutics by 93.3% in the 1st quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 1,155,787 shares of the company's stock valued at $46,786,000 after purchasing an additional 557,794 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD raised its holdings in shares of Akero Therapeutics by 13.5% in the 4th quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 4,321,972 shares of the company's stock valued at $120,238,000 after purchasing an additional 513,613 shares in the last quarter.

Akero Therapeutics Stock Performance

Shares of Akero Therapeutics stock traded up $0.82 during trading on Thursday, reaching $54.42. The company's stock had a trading volume of 115,517 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,051,656. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $50.16 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $44.00. The firm has a market cap of $4.34 billion, a PE ratio of -27.92 and a beta of -0.15. Akero Therapeutics, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $21.34 and a fifty-two week 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.

Akero Therapeutics (NASDAQ:AKRO - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Monday, May 12th. The company reported $0.90 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of ($1.01) by $1.91. On average, analysts forecast that Akero Therapeutics, Inc. will post -3.99 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity

In related news, CFO William Richard White sold 1,634 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, June 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $54.84, for a total transaction of $89,608.56. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 57,521 shares of the company's stock, valued at $3,154,451.64. This trade represents a 2.76% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, insider Timothy Rolph sold 12,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, July 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $51.09, for a total value of $638,625.00. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 167,124 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $8,538,365.16. This represents a 6.96% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 232,156 shares of company stock valued at $11,589,728. 7.07% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Citigroup lowered their target price on shares of 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 upped their target price on shares of Akero Therapeutics from $63.00 to $64.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, May 27th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, According to MarketBeat, Akero Therapeutics has a consensus rating of "Buy" and a consensus price target of $82.50.

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.