Wasatch Advisors LP Sells 1,019,409 Shares of Viking Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VKTX)

Wasatch Advisors LP trimmed its holdings in shares of Viking Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VKTX) by 80.0% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 255,536 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock after selling 1,019,409 shares during the period. Wasatch Advisors LP owned about 0.23% of Viking Therapeutics worth $20,954,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in VKTX. Invesco Ltd. boosted its position in Viking Therapeutics by 4.7% during the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 864,589 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $9,571,000 after purchasing an additional 38,695 shares in the last quarter. Teza Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Viking Therapeutics in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $232,000. Corton Capital Inc. bought a new position in shares of Viking Therapeutics during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $133,000. Schonfeld Strategic Advisors LLC lifted its position in Viking Therapeutics by 17.3% during the third quarter. Schonfeld Strategic Advisors LLC now owns 53,900 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $597,000 after acquiring an additional 7,947 shares during the last quarter. Finally, GSA Capital Partners LLP boosted its stake in Viking Therapeutics by 48.5% in the third quarter. GSA Capital Partners LLP now owns 89,741 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $993,000 after acquiring an additional 29,319 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.03% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CFO Greg Zante sold 66,756 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $74.69, for a total transaction of $4,986,005.64. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 174,854 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $13,059,845.26. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. In related news, CFO Greg Zante sold 66,756 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $74.69, for a total transaction of $4,986,005.64. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 174,854 shares in the company, valued at approximately $13,059,845.26. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, COO Marianna Mancini sold 281,425 shares of Viking Therapeutics stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $78.66, for a total value of $22,136,890.50. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 348,508 shares in the company, valued at $27,413,639.28. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 4.70% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Viking Therapeutics Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:VKTX opened at $51.54 on Wednesday. Viking Therapeutics, Inc. has a 12-month low of $8.28 and a 12-month high of $99.41. The business has a 50 day moving average of $62.93 and a two-hundred day moving average of $52.19.

Viking Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VKTX) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 24th. The biotechnology company reported ($0.26) EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.27) by $0.01. During the same quarter last year, the business posted ($0.25) EPS. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Viking Therapeutics, Inc. will post -1.11 earnings per share for the current year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

VKTX has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Oppenheimer upped their price target on Viking Therapeutics from $116.00 to $138.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 26th. Morgan Stanley began coverage on Viking Therapeutics in a research note on Thursday, June 27th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $105.00 price target for the company. Maxim Group restated a “buy” rating and set a $120.00 price target on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a research note on Tuesday, June 4th. Jefferies Financial Group assumed coverage on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a research report on Thursday, March 7th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $110.00 price objective for the company. Finally, StockNews.com raised shares of Viking Therapeutics to a “sell” rating in a research report on Thursday, June 27th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $111.56.

Viking Therapeutics Company Profile

Viking Therapeutics, Inc, a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company, focuses on the development of novel therapies for metabolic and endocrine disorders. The company's lead drug candidate is VK2809, an orally available tissue and receptor-subtype selective agonist of the thyroid hormone receptor beta (TRß), which is in Phase IIb clinical trials to treat patients with biopsy-confirmed non-alcoholic steatohepatitis, as well as NAFLD.