Los Angeles Capital Management LLC Cuts Stock Position in Viking Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VKTX)

Los Angeles Capital Management LLC trimmed its holdings in shares of Viking Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VKTX) by 10.8% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 10,948 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock after selling 1,330 shares during the period. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Viking Therapeutics were worth $693,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Signaturefd LLC lifted its position in shares of Viking Therapeutics by 16.2% during the third quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 1,351 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $86,000 after purchasing an additional 188 shares in the last quarter. Keudell Morrison Wealth Management grew its position in shares of Viking Therapeutics by 5.9% during the third quarter. Keudell Morrison Wealth Management now owns 4,306 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $273,000 after acquiring an additional 241 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its position in shares of Viking Therapeutics by 124.6% during the third quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 438 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $28,000 after acquiring an additional 243 shares during the last quarter. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV lifted its holdings in shares of Viking Therapeutics by 84.3% during the third quarter. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV now owns 553 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $35,000 after purchasing an additional 253 shares during the period. Finally, Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Viking Therapeutics by 5.5% during the second quarter. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. now owns 7,457 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $395,000 after purchasing an additional 386 shares during the period. 76.03% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

VKTX has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. HC Wainwright upped their target price on shares of Viking Therapeutics from $90.00 to $102.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, November 4th. Morgan Stanley restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $105.00 price objective on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a research report on Thursday, September 12th. StockNews.com upgraded Viking Therapeutics to a “sell” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 15th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. began coverage on Viking Therapeutics in a research note on Wednesday, September 11th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $80.00 target price for the company. Finally, Oppenheimer restated an “outperform” rating and set a $138.00 price target on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a research note on Wednesday, September 25th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $109.80.

Viking Therapeutics Stock Performance

Viking Therapeutics stock opened at $49.58 on Friday. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $64.60 and its 200-day simple moving average is $61.42. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.53 billion, a PE ratio of -53.31 and a beta of 1.00. Viking Therapeutics, Inc. has a 52 week low of $10.34 and a 52 week high of $99.41.

Viking Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VKTX) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The biotechnology company reported ($0.22) earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.24) by $0.02. During the same period last year, the company earned ($0.23) EPS. Research analysts forecast that Viking Therapeutics, Inc. will post -0.98 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Viking Therapeutics

In related news, CEO Brian Lian sold 216,130 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, September 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $70.83, for a total value of $15,308,487.90. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 2,304,927 shares in the company, valued at $163,257,979.41. The trade was a 8.57 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director J Matthew Singleton sold 5,700 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $69.72, for a total transaction of $397,404.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 9,500 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $662,340. This trade represents a 37.50 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 506,687 shares of company stock valued at $36,029,679. 4.70% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.