Amundi Sells 30,538 Shares of Viking Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VKTX)

Amundi decreased its holdings in shares of Viking Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VKTX) by 91.0% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 3,016 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock after selling 30,538 shares during the quarter. Amundi’s holdings in Viking Therapeutics were worth $122,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of VKTX. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new position in Viking Therapeutics during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $24,888,000. Eventide Asset Management LLC raised its position in shares of Viking Therapeutics by 79.1% in the 3rd quarter. Eventide Asset Management LLC now owns 452,969 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $28,677,000 after acquiring an additional 200,000 shares in the last quarter. Westfield Capital Management Co. LP raised its position in shares of Viking Therapeutics by 18.3% in the 3rd quarter. Westfield Capital Management Co. LP now owns 930,370 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $58,902,000 after acquiring an additional 143,675 shares in the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Viking Therapeutics by 29.9% in the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 593,528 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $37,576,000 after acquiring an additional 136,729 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Sphera Funds Management LTD. bought a new position in shares of Viking Therapeutics in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $8,424,000. Institutional investors own 76.03% of the company’s stock.

Viking Therapeutics Trading Up 2.1 %

Viking Therapeutics stock opened at $28.95 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $3.25 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -28.95 and a beta of 0.90. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $31.04 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $47.59. Viking Therapeutics, Inc. has a 12 month low of $24.41 and a 12 month high of $89.10.

Viking Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VKTX) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The biotechnology company reported ($0.32) EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.27) by ($0.05). During the same period last year, the company earned ($0.25) earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Viking Therapeutics, Inc. will post -1.56 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Brian Lian sold 194,490 shares of Viking Therapeutics stock in a transaction on Monday, January 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $42.75, for a total value of $8,314,447.50. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 2,366,570 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $101,170,867.50. The trade was a 7.59 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CFO Greg Zante sold 50,309 shares of Viking Therapeutics stock in a transaction on Monday, January 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $42.75, for a total value of $2,150,709.75. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 165,259 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,064,822.25. The trade was a 23.34 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 299,014 shares of company stock valued at $12,782,849 over the last 90 days. Company insiders own 4.70% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on VKTX. B. Riley reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $96.00 target price (down previously from $109.00) on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a research report on Friday, February 7th. HC Wainwright reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $102.00 target price on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a research report on Tuesday, March 11th. Scotiabank assumed coverage on Viking Therapeutics in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. They issued a “sector outperform” rating and a $102.00 target price for the company. Citigroup assumed coverage on Viking Therapeutics in a research note on Friday, February 7th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $38.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Maxim Group lowered their price objective on Viking Therapeutics from $120.00 to $70.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, February 7th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has issued a hold rating, eleven have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $97.67.

Viking Therapeutics 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.