Victory Capital Management Inc. Trims Stock Position in Viking Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VKTX)

Victory Capital Management Inc. trimmed its holdings in Viking Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VKTX) by 33.2% during the third quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 19,308 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock after selling 9,608 shares during the period. Victory Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Viking Therapeutics were worth $1,222,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in VKTX. Blue Trust Inc. purchased a new position in Viking Therapeutics during the third quarter worth approximately $26,000. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its holdings in shares of Viking Therapeutics by 124.6% during the 3rd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 438 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $28,000 after buying an additional 243 shares during the last quarter. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Viking Therapeutics in the 2nd quarter worth $27,000. Gilliland Jeter Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Viking Therapeutics in the 3rd quarter worth $32,000. Finally, Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV boosted its holdings in Viking Therapeutics by 84.3% in the third quarter. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV now owns 553 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $35,000 after acquiring an additional 253 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.03% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have weighed in on VKTX. StockNews.com raised shares of Viking Therapeutics to a “sell” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 15th. HC Wainwright restated a “buy” rating and set a $102.00 target price on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a report on Tuesday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. started coverage on Viking Therapeutics in a report on Wednesday, September 11th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $80.00 price target for the company. B. Riley assumed coverage on Viking Therapeutics in a research report on Friday, November 22nd. They issued a “buy” rating and a $109.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, William Blair reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a research report on Wednesday, November 20th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $109.73.

Insider Activity at Viking Therapeutics

In other Viking Therapeutics news, Director J Matthew Singleton sold 10,300 shares of Viking Therapeutics stock in a transaction on Friday, September 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $69.50, for a total transaction of $715,850.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 9,500 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $660,250. The trade was a 52.02 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO Brian Lian sold 216,130 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 directly 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 371,117 shares of company stock valued at $27,140,009 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 4.70% of the company’s stock.

Viking Therapeutics Trading Up 2.8 %

Shares of Viking Therapeutics stock opened at $53.42 on Wednesday. Viking Therapeutics, Inc. has a 1 year low of $11.55 and a 1 year high of $99.41. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $63.43 and its 200-day simple moving average is $60.05. The company has a market cap of $5.95 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -57.44 and a beta of 1.00.

Viking Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VKTX) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 23rd. The biotechnology company reported ($0.22) earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.24) by $0.02. During the same period last year, the business posted ($0.23) EPS. As a group, research analysts forecast that Viking Therapeutics, Inc. will post -0.98 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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.