Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. Decreases Stock Position in Akero Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:AKRO)

Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. cut its holdings in Akero Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:AKRO) by 4.0% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 532,596 shares of the company’s stock after selling 22,269 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. owned about 0.77% of Akero Therapeutics worth $15,280,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. boosted its position in shares of Akero Therapeutics by 21.6% in the 3rd quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 2,511 shares of the company’s stock worth $71,000 after buying an additional 446 shares in the last quarter. Eastern Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Akero Therapeutics in the 3rd quarter worth about $100,000. Victory Capital Management Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Akero Therapeutics in the 3rd quarter worth about $211,000. Quest Partners LLC boosted its position in shares of Akero Therapeutics by 22,021.1% in the 2nd quarter. Quest Partners LLC now owns 12,609 shares of the company’s stock worth $296,000 after buying an additional 12,552 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Creative Planning acquired a new position in Akero Therapeutics in the 3rd quarter valued at about $371,000.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Citigroup assumed coverage on shares of Akero Therapeutics in a research note on Monday, November 18th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $65.00 target price for the company. HC Wainwright reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $50.00 target price on shares of Akero Therapeutics in a research note on Monday, November 18th. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $46.83.

Insider Buying and Selling at Akero Therapeutics

In other news, CEO Andrew Cheng sold 1,738 shares of Akero Therapeutics stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $26.18, for a total value of $45,500.84. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 605,417 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $15,849,817.06. The trade was a 0.29 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, COO Jonathan Young sold 10,000 shares of Akero Therapeutics stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, October 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $28.18, for a total value of $281,800.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 226,286 shares in the company, valued at $6,376,739.48. This represents a 4.23 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 383,248 shares of company stock worth $11,940,986 in the last 90 days. 7.94% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Akero Therapeutics Stock Up 4.7 %

AKRO opened at $31.11 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.05, a current ratio of 17.25 and a quick ratio of 17.25. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.17 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -8.30 and a beta of -0.23. The business has a 50-day moving average of $30.66 and a two-hundred day moving average of $26.75. Akero Therapeutics, Inc. has a 12 month low of $15.32 and a 12 month high of $37.00.

Akero Therapeutics (NASDAQ:AKRO) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Friday, November 8th. The company reported ($1.05) EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.90) by ($0.15). On average, research analysts expect that Akero Therapeutics, Inc. will post -3.96 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.