Viking Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VKTX) Shares Sold by Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC

Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC trimmed its holdings in Viking Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VKTX) by 83.5% in the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 605 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock after selling 3,065 shares during the period. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC’s holdings in Viking Therapeutics were worth $38,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the business. Avoro Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Viking Therapeutics in the first quarter valued at about $294,380,000. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in Viking Therapeutics by 44.7% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 7,785,724 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $638,429,000 after buying an additional 2,403,820 shares during the period. Hood River Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Viking Therapeutics during the first quarter worth about $55,098,000. Westfield Capital Management Co. LP acquired a new stake in shares of Viking Therapeutics during the first quarter worth about $54,295,000. Finally, Clearbridge Investments LLC acquired a new stake in Viking Therapeutics in the first quarter valued at approximately $48,970,000. 76.03% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Viking Therapeutics Trading Up 2.4 %

Shares of VKTX stock opened at $64.63 on Wednesday. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $64.39 and a 200 day moving average price of $61.77. Viking Therapeutics, Inc. has a twelve month low of $9.34 and a twelve month high of $99.41. The company has a market capitalization of $7.20 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -69.49 and a beta of 1.00.

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

Insider Transactions at Viking Therapeutics

In other news, CEO Brian Lian sold 112,870 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $65.80, for a total transaction of $7,426,846.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2,354,927 shares in the company, valued at $154,954,196.60. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. In related news, Director J Matthew Singleton sold 5,700 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $69.72, for a total transaction of $397,404.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 9,500 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $662,340. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Brian Lian sold 112,870 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $65.80, for a total transaction of $7,426,846.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2,354,927 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $154,954,196.60. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 525,473 shares of company stock worth $37,088,158 in the last three months. Company insiders own 4.70% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Raymond James raised their target price on shares of Viking Therapeutics from $116.00 to $118.00 and gave the company a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, July 25th. Oppenheimer reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $138.00 price objective on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a report on Wednesday, September 25th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Viking Therapeutics to a “sell” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 15th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. initiated coverage on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a research report on Wednesday, September 11th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $80.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Morgan Stanley restated an “overweight” rating and set a $105.00 target price 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 assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Viking Therapeutics presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $109.80.

About Viking Therapeutics

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.