Private Advisor Group LLC Sells 2,560 Shares of Viking Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VKTX)

Private Advisor Group LLC lowered its position in Viking Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VKTX) by 28.2% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 6,526 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock after selling 2,560 shares during the quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC’s holdings in Viking Therapeutics were worth $263,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Blue Trust Inc. boosted its stake in Viking Therapeutics by 75.9% in the 4th quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 716 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $29,000 after buying an additional 309 shares in the last quarter. Stone House Investment Management LLC increased its holdings in Viking Therapeutics by 66.7% during the 3rd quarter. Stone House Investment Management LLC now owns 500 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $32,000 after purchasing an additional 200 shares in the last quarter. YANKCOM Partnership bought a new position in Viking Therapeutics in the 4th quarter valued at $33,000. S.A. Mason LLC boosted its stake in Viking Therapeutics by 20.0% in the fourth quarter. S.A. Mason LLC now owns 1,800 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $72,000 after purchasing an additional 300 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Wolff Wiese Magana LLC bought a new stake in shares of Viking Therapeutics during the fourth quarter worth $75,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.03% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Viking Therapeutics

In other news, CFO Greg Zante sold 50,309 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, January 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $42.75, for a total value of $2,150,709.75. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 165,259 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,064,822.25. The trade was a 23.34 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Brian Lian sold 194,490 shares of Viking Therapeutics stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $42.75, for a total transaction of $8,314,447.50. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 2,366,570 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $101,170,867.50. The trade was a 7.59 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 299,014 shares of company stock worth $12,782,849. Insiders own 4.70% of the company’s stock.

Viking Therapeutics Stock Down 0.5 %

Shares of VKTX opened at $27.94 on Thursday. The company has a 50 day moving average of $34.20 and a 200-day moving average of $50.65. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.14 billion, a P/E ratio of -27.94 and a beta of 0.90. Viking Therapeutics, Inc. has a twelve month low of $24.41 and a twelve month high of $96.74.

Viking Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VKTX) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 5th. The biotechnology company reported ($0.32) EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.27) by ($0.05). During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned ($0.25) earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Viking Therapeutics, Inc. will post -1.56 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on VKTX shares. Piper Sandler cut their price target on Viking Therapeutics from $74.00 to $71.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, February 6th. HC Wainwright reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $102.00 price target on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Scotiabank initiated coverage on Viking Therapeutics in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. They set a “sector outperform” rating and a $102.00 price objective for the company. Citigroup assumed coverage on Viking Therapeutics in a research note on Friday, February 7th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $38.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Raymond James raised their target price on Viking Therapeutics from $122.00 to $125.00 and gave the stock a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, February 6th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has given a hold rating, thirteen have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $97.29.

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.