Investors Buy Large Volume of Call Options on Akero Therapeutics (NASDAQ:AKRO)

Akero Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:AKRO - Get Free Report) saw some unusual options trading activity on Monday. Investors purchased 3,105 call options on the stock. This is an increase of approximately 106% compared to the typical volume of 1,508 call options.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Andrew Cheng sold 30,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, April 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $35.23, for a total transaction of $1,056,900.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 624,324 shares in the company, valued at $21,994,934.52. This trade represents a 4.58% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Catriona Yale sold 10,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $44.76, for a total value of $447,600.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 95,034 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,253,721.84. The trade was a 9.52% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 216,787 shares of company stock valued at $9,954,600. 7.07% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Akero Therapeutics

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. RTW Investments LP boosted its stake in Akero Therapeutics by 15.9% in the 4th 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. Deep Track Capital LP lifted its holdings in shares of Akero Therapeutics by 116.0% in the fourth 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 fourth quarter worth $18,059,000. SG Americas Securities LLC grew its holdings in shares of Akero Therapeutics by 93.3% during the first quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 1,155,787 shares of the company's stock valued at $46,786,000 after buying an additional 557,794 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Lord Abbett & CO. LLC purchased a new position in shares of Akero Therapeutics during the first quarter valued at $21,333,000.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have recently commented on the company. Morgan Stanley reissued an "overweight" rating on shares of Akero Therapeutics in a research note on Sunday, March 2nd. Citigroup dropped 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 report on Tuesday, May 13th. Bank of America upped their price target 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. Finally, HC Wainwright lifted their price objective on shares of Akero Therapeutics from $72.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, March 3rd. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, Based on data from MarketBeat, Akero Therapeutics currently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and an average price target of $82.50.

Akero Therapeutics Trading Up 1.1%

Shares of Akero Therapeutics stock traded up $0.60 on Thursday, reaching $53.56. 1,573,450 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,001,064. Akero Therapeutics has a fifty-two week low of $21.02 and a fifty-two week high of $58.40. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.27 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -14.28 and a beta of -0.16. The company has a current ratio of 17.25, a quick ratio of 17.25 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.05. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $43.18 and a 200-day moving average price of $39.98.

Akero Therapeutics (NASDAQ:AKRO - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, May 12th. The company reported $0.90 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($1.01) by $1.91. On average, analysts expect that Akero Therapeutics will post -3.99 EPS for the current year.

Akero Therapeutics Company 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.