Nationale Nederlanden Powszechne Towarzystwo Emerytalne S.A. Sells 226,486 Shares of Viking Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VKTX)

Nationale Nederlanden Powszechne Towarzystwo Emerytalne S.A. lowered its stake in shares of Viking Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VKTX - Free Report) by 45.9% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 267,464 shares of the biotechnology company's stock after selling 226,486 shares during the quarter. Nationale Nederlanden Powszechne Towarzystwo Emerytalne S.A. owned about 0.24% of Viking Therapeutics worth $10,763,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Blue Trust Inc. increased its stake in shares of Viking Therapeutics by 75.9% in the fourth quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 716 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 309 shares during the period. YANKCOM Partnership acquired a new stake in Viking Therapeutics in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $33,000. FIL Ltd increased its position in Viking Therapeutics by 116.8% in the 4th quarter. FIL Ltd now owns 1,203 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $48,000 after buying an additional 648 shares during the period. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Viking Therapeutics by 170.2% during the fourth quarter. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC now owns 1,351 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $55,000 after buying an additional 851 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Kapitalo Investimentos Ltda acquired a new position in shares of Viking Therapeutics during the fourth quarter worth approximately $63,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.03% of the company's stock.

Viking Therapeutics Price Performance

Shares of VKTX traded down $0.75 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $26.98. The company had a trading volume of 1,802,375 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,080,167. The company has a market capitalization of $3.03 billion, a P/E ratio of -26.98 and a beta of 0.75. Viking Therapeutics, Inc. has a twelve month low of $18.92 and a twelve month high of $81.73. The company's 50-day moving average is $25.92 and its 200-day moving average is $34.97.

Viking Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VKTX - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data 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). Viking Therapeutics's quarterly revenue was up .0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted ($0.26) earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts expect that Viking Therapeutics, Inc. will post -1.56 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on VKTX shares. Raymond James boosted their target price 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. Truist Financial reaffirmed a "buy" rating and set a $75.00 price objective (down previously from $95.00) on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a research report on Monday, April 28th. Cantor Fitzgerald upgraded shares of Viking Therapeutics to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 29th. 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 target on the stock. Finally, Citigroup started coverage on Viking Therapeutics in a report on Friday, February 7th. They issued a "neutral" rating and a $38.00 price target for the company. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating, ten have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Viking Therapeutics presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $87.15.

Insider Activity

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

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.