5AM Venture Management LLC Sells 47,967 Shares of Viking Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VKTX)

5AM Venture Management LLC lessened its stake in shares of Viking Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VKTX - Free Report) by 20.2% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 189,593 shares of the biotechnology company's stock after selling 47,967 shares during the period. Viking Therapeutics comprises approximately 1.8% of 5AM Venture Management LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its 18th largest holding. 5AM Venture Management LLC owned 0.17% of Viking Therapeutics worth $7,629,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Freestone Grove Partners LP acquired a new position in Viking Therapeutics during the fourth quarter worth $224,000. Kapitalo Investimentos Ltda acquired a new stake in Viking Therapeutics in the 4th quarter valued at about $63,000. AQR Capital Management LLC increased its position in Viking Therapeutics by 15.9% during the fourth quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 537,239 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $21,516,000 after buying an additional 73,710 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp lifted its position in shares of Viking Therapeutics by 11.4% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 535,984 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $21,568,000 after buying an additional 54,871 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Beacon Pointe Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Viking Therapeutics by 4.9% during the 4th quarter. Beacon Pointe Advisors LLC now owns 34,479 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $1,387,000 after acquiring an additional 1,615 shares during the last quarter. 76.03% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts recently commented on the stock. Piper Sandler decreased their price target on shares of Viking Therapeutics from $74.00 to $71.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Cantor Fitzgerald raised shares of Viking Therapeutics to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, April 29th. B. Riley restated a "buy" rating and set a $96.00 price objective (down previously from $109.00) on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Truist Financial restated a "buy" rating and issued a $75.00 price target (down from $95.00) on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a research report on Monday, April 28th. Finally, Citigroup initiated coverage on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a research report on Friday, February 7th. They set a "neutral" rating and a $38.00 target price for the company. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating, ten have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $87.15.

Insider Transactions at Viking Therapeutics

In other Viking Therapeutics news, Director Sarah Kathryn Rouan bought 1,240 shares of Viking Therapeutics stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 31st. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $24.15 per share, for a total transaction of $29,946.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 1,240 shares in the company, valued at $29,946. This represents a ∞ increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Insiders own 4.10% of the company's stock.

Viking Therapeutics Price Performance

VKTX stock traded up $0.39 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, reaching $27.40. 1,317,122 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 4,093,885. Viking Therapeutics, Inc. has a 52-week low of $18.92 and a 52-week high of $81.86. The company has a market capitalization of $3.08 billion, a P/E ratio of -27.41 and a beta of 0.75. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $26.18 and a 200-day moving average price of $38.70.

Viking Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VKTX - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, April 23rd. The biotechnology company reported ($0.41) earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of ($0.31) by ($0.10). During the same period last year, the company earned ($0.26) EPS. The business's revenue for the quarter was up .0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts forecast that Viking Therapeutics, Inc. will post -1.56 EPS for the current year.

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.