Blair William & Co. IL Sells 198,028 Shares of Viking Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VKTX)

Blair William & Co. IL lessened its stake in shares of Viking Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VKTX) by 66.2% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 101,207 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock after selling 198,028 shares during the quarter. Blair William & Co. IL owned about 0.09% of Viking Therapeutics worth $5,365,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in VKTX. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its stake in Viking Therapeutics by 1.4% in the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 775,699 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $14,436,000 after buying an additional 10,379 shares during the last quarter. UBS Group AG increased its stake in shares of Viking Therapeutics by 136.4% in the fourth quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 339,726 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $6,322,000 after purchasing an additional 196,015 shares during the period. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC lifted its position in shares of Viking Therapeutics by 121.4% during the 4th quarter. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC now owns 38,746 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $721,000 after purchasing an additional 21,246 shares during the last quarter. Dorsey & Whitney Trust CO LLC bought a new stake in Viking Therapeutics during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $341,000. Finally, Eagle Asset Management Inc. acquired a new stake in Viking Therapeutics in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $4,872,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.03% of the company’s stock.

Viking Therapeutics Price Performance

Viking Therapeutics stock opened at $70.47 on Friday. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $59.08 and a 200 day simple moving average of $63.21. The company has a market capitalization of $7.81 billion, a PE ratio of -75.77 and a beta of 1.00. Viking Therapeutics, Inc. has a one year low of $8.28 and a one year high of $99.41.

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

VKTX has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Raymond James upped their price target on Viking Therapeutics from $116.00 to $118.00 and gave the stock a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, July 25th. HC Wainwright reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $90.00 price target on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a report on Thursday, July 25th. Morgan Stanley restated an “overweight” rating and set a $105.00 price objective on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a report on Thursday, September 12th. Maxim Group reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $120.00 target price on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a research note on Tuesday, June 4th. Finally, StockNews.com raised Viking Therapeutics to a “sell” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $108.60.

Insider Buying and Selling at Viking Therapeutics

In other news, Director J Matthew Singleton sold 10,300 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 $660,250. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In related news, Director J Matthew Singleton sold 10,300 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, September 20th. The stock was 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 directly owns 9,500 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $660,250. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Brian Lian sold 216,130 shares of Viking Therapeutics stock in a transaction 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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $163,257,979.41. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 516,671 shares of company stock worth $33,810,813 over the last ninety days. 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.