AGF Management Ltd. Sells 956 Shares of Viking Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VKTX)

AGF Management Ltd. cut its stake in shares of Viking Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VKTX) by 1.8% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 51,449 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock after selling 956 shares during the quarter. AGF Management Ltd.’s holdings in Viking Therapeutics were worth $2,727,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in Viking Therapeutics by 44.7% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 7,785,724 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $638,429,000 after acquiring an additional 2,403,820 shares during the last quarter. Avoro Capital Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Viking Therapeutics during the 1st quarter worth approximately $294,380,000. Wasatch Advisors LP grew its holdings in Viking Therapeutics by 32.4% during the 4th quarter. Wasatch Advisors LP now owns 1,274,945 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $23,727,000 after acquiring an additional 311,681 shares during the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. grew its holdings in Viking Therapeutics by 88.3% during the 4th quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 1,119,885 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $20,841,000 after acquiring an additional 525,296 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Perpetual Ltd bought a new stake in Viking Therapeutics during the 1st quarter worth approximately $78,586,000. 76.03% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Viking Therapeutics

In other Viking Therapeutics news, CEO Brian Lian sold 1,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $69.90, for a total transaction of $69,900.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 2,354,927 shares in the company, valued at $164,609,397.30. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In other Viking Therapeutics news, CEO Brian Lian sold 1,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $69.90, for a total transaction of $69,900.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 2,354,927 shares in the company, valued at $164,609,397.30. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, COO Marianna Mancini sold 18,026 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $57.13, for a total transaction of $1,029,825.38. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 362,149 shares in the company, valued at approximately $20,689,572.37. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 290,241 shares of company stock worth $17,786,475 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 4.70% of the company’s stock.

Viking Therapeutics Stock Up 3.3 %

Viking Therapeutics stock opened at $62.81 on Friday. Viking Therapeutics, Inc. has a 12-month low of $8.28 and a 12-month high of $99.41. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $57.69 and its 200 day moving average is $63.88. The company has a market capitalization of $6.93 billion, a PE ratio of -67.54 and a beta of 1.00.

Viking Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VKTX) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, July 24th. The biotechnology company reported ($0.20) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.26) by $0.06. During the same quarter last year, the company posted ($0.19) EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that Viking Therapeutics, Inc. will post -0.99 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have weighed in on VKTX. HC Wainwright reissued a “buy” rating and set a $90.00 target price on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a report on Thursday, July 25th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. assumed coverage on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a research note on Wednesday. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $80.00 price objective on the stock. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $105.00 price objective on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a research note on Thursday. StockNews.com raised shares of Viking Therapeutics to a “sell” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. Finally, Raymond James upped their price objective on shares of Viking Therapeutics from $116.00 to $118.00 and gave the company a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 25th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $108.60.

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.