Teacher Retirement System of Texas Raises Position in Akero Therapeutics, Inc. $AKRO

Teacher Retirement System of Texas raised its position in shares of Akero Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:AKRO) by 13.9% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 14,977 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,828 shares during the quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas’ holdings in Akero Therapeutics were worth $799,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lifted its stake in shares of Akero Therapeutics by 11.5% in the 1st quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 4,817,091 shares of the company’s stock valued at $194,997,000 after purchasing an additional 495,119 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in Akero Therapeutics by 14.2% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 4,230,644 shares of the company’s stock worth $171,256,000 after purchasing an additional 526,233 shares in the last quarter. Long Focus Capital Management LLC lifted its position in Akero Therapeutics by 1.4% during the first quarter. Long Focus Capital Management LLC now owns 729,504 shares of the company’s stock valued at $29,530,000 after buying an additional 9,900 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp lifted its position in Akero Therapeutics by 5.9% during the first quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 656,733 shares of the company’s stock valued at $26,585,000 after buying an additional 36,412 shares during the period. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Akero Therapeutics by 7.7% during the 1st quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 582,254 shares of the company’s stock valued at $23,570,000 after buying an additional 41,562 shares in the last quarter.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Catriona Yale sold 659 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $43.02, for a total value of $28,350.18. Following the transaction, the insider owned 90,829 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,907,463.58. This trade represents a 0.72% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Andrew Cheng sold 30,000 shares of Akero Therapeutics stock in a transaction dated Friday, October 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $53.98, for a total value of $1,619,400.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 526,114 shares in the company, valued at approximately $28,399,633.72. The trade was a 5.39% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 156,753 shares of company stock worth $7,456,064. Company insiders own 7.07% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on AKRO shares. Weiss Ratings reissued a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Akero Therapeutics in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Cowen started coverage on shares of Akero Therapeutics in a research note on Monday, August 4th. They set a “buy” rating for the company. Zacks Research lowered shares of Akero Therapeutics from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, October 10th. Lifesci Capital cut Akero Therapeutics from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 9th. Finally, Canaccord Genuity Group lowered Akero Therapeutics from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and reduced their price objective for the company from $73.00 to $54.00 in a research report on Thursday, October 9th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Akero Therapeutics currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $73.38.

Akero Therapeutics Trading Up 0.2%

Shares of AKRO stock opened at $54.04 on Friday. 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, Inc. has a 12-month low of $21.34 and a 12-month high of $58.40. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.32 billion, a P/E ratio of -27.02 and a beta of -0.35. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $49.21 and its 200 day moving average is $49.01.

Akero Therapeutics (NASDAQ:AKRO) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Friday, November 14th. The company reported ($0.99) EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.94) by ($0.05). Research analysts expect that Akero Therapeutics, Inc. will post -3.99 earnings per share for the current year.

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.