Ensign Peak Advisors Inc lowered its stake in shares of Viking Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VKTX - Free Report) by 8.7% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 412,656 shares of the biotechnology company's stock after selling 39,355 shares during the quarter. Ensign Peak Advisors Inc owned about 0.37% of Viking Therapeutics worth $16,605,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.
Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Blue Trust Inc. grew 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 during the last quarter. YANKCOM Partnership acquired a new position in Viking Therapeutics in the 4th quarter valued at $33,000. FIL Ltd grew its stake in Viking Therapeutics by 116.8% in the 4th quarter. FIL Ltd now owns 1,203 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $48,000 after buying an additional 648 shares during the last quarter. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC grew its stake in Viking Therapeutics by 170.2% in the 4th quarter. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC now owns 1,351 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $55,000 after buying an additional 851 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Kapitalo Investimentos Ltda acquired a new position in Viking Therapeutics in the 4th quarter valued at $63,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.03% of the company's stock.
Insider Activity at Viking Therapeutics
In other news, Director Sarah Kathryn Rouan purchased 1,240 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 31st. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $24.15 per share, with a total value of $29,946.00. Following the acquisition, the director now directly owns 1,240 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $29,946. This trade represents a ∞ increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 4.10% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.
Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth
Several analysts have issued reports 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 report on Thursday, February 6th. Cantor Fitzgerald upgraded shares of Viking Therapeutics to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 29th. Scotiabank assumed coverage on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. They issued a "sector outperform" rating and a $102.00 price target on the stock. Raymond James raised their price target on shares of Viking Therapeutics from $122.00 to $125.00 and gave the stock a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, 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. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating, ten have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $87.15.
Read Our Latest Stock Report on VKTX
Viking Therapeutics Price Performance
Shares of Viking Therapeutics stock traded down $1.17 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $26.57. 3,791,539 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 4,118,604. The firm's fifty day moving average price is $26.12 and its 200 day moving average price is $37.24. Viking Therapeutics, Inc. has a twelve month low of $18.92 and a twelve month high of $81.73. The company has a market cap of $2.98 billion, a PE ratio of -26.57 and a beta of 0.75.
Viking Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VKTX - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 23rd. The biotechnology company reported ($0.41) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.31) by ($0.10). During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned ($0.26) EPS. The firm's quarterly revenue was up .0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Viking Therapeutics, Inc. will post -1.56 earnings per share for the current year.
About Viking Therapeutics
(
Free Report)
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.
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