Akero Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:AKRO) Short Interest Up 32.0% in February

Akero Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:AKRO) was the recipient of a significant growth in short interest in February. As of February 15th, there was short interest totalling 4,790,000 shares, a growth of 32.0% from the January 31st total of 3,630,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 1,170,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 4.1 days.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

AKRO has been the topic of several recent research reports. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on Akero Therapeutics from $46.00 to $96.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. Citigroup raised their target price on shares of Akero Therapeutics from $65.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. Bank of America upgraded shares of Akero Therapeutics from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price target for the company from $35.00 to $63.00 in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Canaccord Genuity Group increased their price target on shares of Akero Therapeutics from $56.00 to $73.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. Finally, UBS Group boosted their price objective on shares of Akero Therapeutics from $42.00 to $109.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $76.29.

Akero Therapeutics Stock Down 2.2 %

Shares of NASDAQ AKRO opened at $44.53 on Wednesday. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $39.59 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $32.92. Akero Therapeutics has a 12 month low of $17.86 and a 12 month high of $58.40. 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 firm has a market capitalization of $3.11 billion, a PE ratio of -11.87 and a beta of -0.19.

Akero Therapeutics (NASDAQ:AKRO) last released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, February 28th. The company reported ($0.99) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.98) by ($0.01). Equities analysts expect that Akero Therapeutics will post -3.99 earnings per share for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Akero Therapeutics news, insider Timothy Rolph sold 4,818 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, December 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $30.91, for a total transaction of $148,924.38. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 178,337 shares in the company, valued at $5,512,396.67. This represents a 2.63 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Catriona Yale sold 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $49.87, for a total value of $498,700.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 95,648 shares in the company, valued at $4,769,965.76. This trade represents a 9.47 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 173,992 shares of company stock valued at $8,509,863. 7.94% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its holdings in Akero Therapeutics by 54.4% in the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 7,896,632 shares of the company’s stock worth $226,554,000 after purchasing an additional 2,782,029 shares in the last quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC grew its position in shares of Akero Therapeutics by 2.9% in the 3rd quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 7,077,478 shares of the company’s stock worth $203,053,000 after buying an additional 201,225 shares during the period. RTW Investments LP increased its stake 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 worth $190,840,000 after acquiring an additional 940,388 shares in the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its stake 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 worth $120,238,000 after acquiring an additional 513,613 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in Akero Therapeutics by 0.8% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 3,704,411 shares of the company’s stock valued at $103,057,000 after acquiring an additional 27,830 shares during the period.

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.