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

Victory Capital Management Inc. decreased its position in shares of Viking Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VKTX) by 33.2% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 19,308 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock after selling 9,608 shares during the quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Viking Therapeutics were worth $1,222,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Blue Trust Inc. bought a new position in shares of Viking Therapeutics during the 3rd quarter valued at $26,000. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. bought a new position in Viking Therapeutics in the second quarter valued at about $27,000. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its position in Viking Therapeutics by 124.6% in the third quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 438 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $28,000 after purchasing an additional 243 shares during the last quarter. Gilliland Jeter Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Viking Therapeutics during the 3rd quarter valued at about $32,000. Finally, Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV increased its position in shares of Viking Therapeutics by 84.3% during the 3rd quarter. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV now owns 553 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $35,000 after purchasing an additional 253 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 76.03% of the company’s stock.

Viking Therapeutics Stock Performance

Shares of Viking Therapeutics stock opened at $53.42 on Wednesday. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $63.43 and its 200 day moving average price 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, Inc. has a one year low of $11.55 and a one year high of $99.41.

Viking Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VKTX) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The biotechnology company reported ($0.22) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.24) by $0.02. During the same period last year, the firm posted ($0.23) EPS. On average, analysts predict that Viking Therapeutics, Inc. will post -0.98 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have recently commented on VKTX. Oppenheimer restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $138.00 price objective on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a research note on Wednesday, September 25th. William Blair reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a research note on Wednesday, November 20th. HC Wainwright reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $102.00 price objective on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a research note on Tuesday. B. Riley assumed coverage on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a research note on Friday, November 22nd. They set a “buy” rating and a $109.00 target price on the stock. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. assumed coverage on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a research report on Wednesday, September 11th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $80.00 price target for the company. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Viking Therapeutics has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $109.73.

Insider Activity

In other Viking Therapeutics news, Director Lawson Macartney sold 2,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, November 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $68.67, for a total value of $137,340.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 47,965 shares in the company, valued at $3,293,756.55. This represents a 4.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Brian Lian sold 216,130 shares of the 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 sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2,304,927 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $163,257,979.41. The trade was a 8.57 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 371,117 shares of company stock worth $27,140,009. 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.