Bellevue Group AG Grows Stake in Akero Therapeutics, Inc. $AKRO

Bellevue Group AG raised its holdings in Akero Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:AKRO) by 58.7% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 1,985,272 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 734,606 shares during the quarter. Akero Therapeutics comprises 2.3% of Bellevue Group AG’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 13th largest position. Bellevue Group AG owned approximately 2.48% of Akero Therapeutics worth $105,934,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in AKRO. FNY Investment Advisers LLC purchased a new stake in Akero Therapeutics in the second quarter worth $28,000. Northwest & Ethical Investments L.P. bought a new position in Akero Therapeutics in the 1st quarter worth $32,000. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Akero Therapeutics by 30.8% in the 1st quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 1,658 shares of the company’s stock worth $67,000 after purchasing an additional 390 shares during the period. TD Waterhouse Canada Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Akero Therapeutics during the 2nd quarter valued at about $71,000. Finally, Assetmark Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Akero Therapeutics by 152.9% during the 2nd quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 1,439 shares of the company’s stock valued at $77,000 after purchasing an additional 870 shares in the last quarter.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, COO Jonathan Young sold 12,500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, October 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $47.76, for a total transaction of $597,000.00. Following the sale, the chief operating officer directly owned 196,898 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,403,848.48. This represents a 5.97% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Andrew Cheng sold 30,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, October 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $53.98, for a total transaction of $1,619,400.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 526,114 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $28,399,633.72. This represents a 5.39% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold a total of 55,000 shares of company stock worth $2,792,400 in the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 7.07% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on the stock. TD Cowen downgraded shares of Akero Therapeutics from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, October 10th. Zacks Research downgraded Akero Therapeutics from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, October 10th. Weiss Ratings restated a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Akero Therapeutics in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Wall Street Zen lowered Akero Therapeutics from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Saturday, October 11th. Finally, Lifesci Capital downgraded Akero Therapeutics from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, October 9th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $73.38.

Akero Therapeutics Stock Up 0.2%

Akero Therapeutics stock opened at $54.65 on Friday. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $53.70 and its 200 day moving average is $51.05. The company has a market capitalization of $4.50 billion, a P/E ratio of -28.17 and a beta of -0.40. Akero Therapeutics, Inc. has a twelve month low of $21.34 and a twelve month high of $58.40.

Akero Therapeutics (NASDAQ:AKRO) last released its earnings results on Friday, November 7th. The company reported ($0.99) EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.94) by ($0.05). As a group, equities analysts expect that Akero Therapeutics, Inc. will post -3.99 EPS 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.