Viking Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VKTX) Shares Sold by Perceptive Advisors LLC

Perceptive Advisors LLC decreased its position in Viking Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VKTX) by 27.4% during the second quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 721,377 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock after selling 272,721 shares during the quarter. Perceptive Advisors LLC’s holdings in Viking Therapeutics were worth $38,240,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. UBS Group AG boosted its stake in shares of Viking Therapeutics by 136.4% in the 4th quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 339,726 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $6,322,000 after buying an additional 196,015 shares during the period. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC increased its holdings in shares of Viking Therapeutics by 121.4% in the 4th quarter. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC now owns 38,746 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $721,000 after acquiring an additional 21,246 shares during the period. Dorsey & Whitney Trust CO LLC acquired a new position in Viking Therapeutics in the 4th quarter valued at $341,000. Eagle Asset Management Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Viking Therapeutics in the 4th quarter worth $4,872,000. Finally, Campbell & CO Investment Adviser LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Viking Therapeutics in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $545,000. 76.03% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on the company. Truist Financial reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $120.00 price objective on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a research note on Monday, June 17th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. began coverage on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a research report on Wednesday, September 11th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $80.00 price target for the company. Oppenheimer reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $138.00 target price on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a research report on Wednesday, September 25th. HC Wainwright restated a “buy” rating and issued a $90.00 price target on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a research note on Thursday, July 25th. Finally, Morgan Stanley restated an “overweight” rating and set a $105.00 price target on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a research report on Thursday, September 12th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Viking Therapeutics currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $108.60.

Viking Therapeutics Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:VKTX opened at $61.63 on Monday. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $60.02 and its 200-day moving average is $62.77. The firm has a market cap of $6.80 billion, a PE ratio of -66.27 and a beta of 1.00. Viking Therapeutics, Inc. has a 52 week low of $8.28 and a 52 week high of $99.41.

Viking Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VKTX) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 24th. The biotechnology company reported ($0.20) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.26) by $0.06. During the same period last year, the business earned ($0.19) earnings per share. Sell-side analysts forecast that Viking Therapeutics, Inc. will post -1 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Viking Therapeutics

In related news, COO Marianna Mancini sold 18,026 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $57.13, for a total value of $1,029,825.38. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 362,149 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $20,689,572.37. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. In other Viking Therapeutics news, COO Marianna Mancini sold 18,026 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $57.13, for a total value of $1,029,825.38. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 362,149 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $20,689,572.37. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Brian Lian sold 115,859 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $57.58, for a total transaction of $6,671,161.22. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2,354,927 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $135,596,696.66. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 516,671 shares of company stock valued at $33,810,813. Corporate insiders own 4.70% of the company’s stock.

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.