U.S. Capital Wealth Advisors LLC Trims Holdings in Viking Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VKTX)

U.S. Capital Wealth Advisors LLC cut its stake in Viking Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VKTX - Free Report) by 19.1% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 35,751 shares of the biotechnology company's stock after selling 8,423 shares during the quarter. U.S. Capital Wealth Advisors LLC's holdings in Viking Therapeutics were worth $863,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. FMR LLC raised its stake in shares of Viking Therapeutics by 0.6% in the fourth quarter. FMR LLC now owns 16,715,438 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $672,629,000 after purchasing an additional 96,008 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of Viking Therapeutics by 0.9% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,880,713 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $75,704,000 after acquiring an additional 17,046 shares during the last quarter. Braidwell LP increased its position in shares of Viking Therapeutics by 27.9% during the fourth quarter. Braidwell LP now owns 1,479,666 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $59,542,000 after acquiring an additional 322,689 shares during the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. increased its position in shares of Viking Therapeutics by 228.5% during the fourth quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 1,479,596 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $59,540,000 after acquiring an additional 1,029,125 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA increased its position in shares of Viking Therapeutics by 446.7% during the fourth quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 1,357,241 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $54,615,000 after acquiring an additional 1,108,972 shares during the last quarter. 76.03% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Viking Therapeutics

In other news, CFO Greg Zante sold 4,266 shares of Viking Therapeutics stock in a transaction dated Thursday, July 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $27.76, for a total value of $118,424.16. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 168,660 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,682,001.60. The trade was a 2.47% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, COO Marianna Mancini sold 4,266 shares of Viking Therapeutics stock in a transaction dated Thursday, July 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $27.77, for a total value of $118,466.82. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer owned 377,535 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,484,146.95. This represents a 1.12% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 35,421 shares of company stock worth $984,405. Company insiders own 4.10% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have weighed in on VKTX shares. Cantor Fitzgerald raised Viking Therapeutics to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, April 29th. Truist Financial reissued a "buy" rating and set a $75.00 price objective (down from $95.00) on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a report on Monday, April 28th. The Goldman Sachs Group started coverage on Viking Therapeutics in a report on Tuesday, April 8th. They set a "neutral" rating and a $30.00 price objective for the company. Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on Viking Therapeutics from $105.00 to $102.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 24th. Finally, HC Wainwright reaffirmed a "buy" rating and issued a $102.00 price target on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a report on Wednesday, June 25th. 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 issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $87.15.

Viking Therapeutics Stock Down 0.6%

NASDAQ:VKTX traded down $0.18 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $31.11. 2,829,639 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 4,066,393. The firm has a market cap of $3.49 billion, a P/E ratio of -27.05 and a beta of 0.62. Viking Therapeutics, Inc. has a 52 week low of $18.92 and a 52 week high of $81.73. The business's fifty day simple moving average is $27.61 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $29.29.

Viking Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VKTX - Get Free Report) last posted 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). During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned ($0.26) earnings per share. The company's quarterly revenue was up .0% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts expect 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.