US Bancorp DE Sells 1,206 Shares of Viking Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VKTX)

US Bancorp DE decreased its position in Viking Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VKTX) by 24.0% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 3,812 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock after selling 1,206 shares during the period. US Bancorp DE’s holdings in Viking Therapeutics were worth $241,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Blue Trust Inc. acquired a new position in Viking Therapeutics in the third quarter valued at about $26,000. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its holdings in 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 period. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. bought a new position in Viking Therapeutics in the second quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Gilliland Jeter Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Viking Therapeutics in the third quarter valued at approximately $32,000. Finally, Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV increased its position 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 acquiring an additional 253 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 76.03% of the company’s stock.

Viking Therapeutics Stock Down 9.1 %

Viking Therapeutics stock opened at $55.06 on Thursday. Viking Therapeutics, Inc. has a twelve month low of $10.34 and a twelve month high of $99.41. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $64.72 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $61.66. The stock has a market cap of $6.14 billion, a P/E ratio of -59.20 and a beta of 1.00.

Viking Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VKTX) last posted 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 in the prior year, the firm posted ($0.23) EPS. Equities analysts anticipate that Viking Therapeutics, Inc. will post -0.98 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have issued reports on VKTX. JPMorgan Chase & Co. initiated coverage on Viking Therapeutics in a report on Wednesday, September 11th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $80.00 target price for the company. Oppenheimer reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $138.00 price target on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a research report on Wednesday, September 25th. StockNews.com raised shares of Viking Therapeutics to a “sell” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 15th. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $105.00 target price on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a research report on Thursday, September 12th. Finally, HC Wainwright raised their price objective on Viking Therapeutics from $90.00 to $102.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, November 4th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Viking Therapeutics presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $109.80.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director J Matthew Singleton sold 16,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $62.22, for a total value of $995,520.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 9,500 shares in the company, valued at approximately $591,090. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In other Viking Therapeutics news, Director Sarah Kathryn Rouan sold 11,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, October 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $80.89, for a total transaction of $889,790.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 9,500 shares in the company, valued at $768,455. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director J Matthew Singleton sold 16,000 shares of Viking Therapeutics stock in a transaction on Monday, August 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $62.22, for a total value of $995,520.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 9,500 shares in the company, valued at approximately $591,090. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 506,687 shares of company stock worth $36,029,679 in the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 4.70% of the company’s stock.

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.