Viking Therapeutics, Inc. $VKTX Shares Sold by International Assets Investment Management LLC

Key Points

• International Assets Investment Management LLC has reduced its holdings in Viking Therapeutics by 61.5%, now owning only 10,614 shares, valued at approximately $281,000.
• Analysts have mixed opinions on VKTX, with Morgan Stanley raising its target price to $102 while Weiss Ratings issued a "sell" rating.
• Viking Therapeutics' stock recently experienced an 8.0% increase, bringing its market capitalization to $3.81 billion, amidst varying analyst ratings and institutional activity.

International Assets Investment Management LLC reduced its holdings in shares of Viking Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VKTX - Free Report) by 61.5% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 10,614 shares of the biotechnology company's stock after selling 16,970 shares during the period. International Assets Investment Management LLC's holdings in Viking Therapeutics were worth $281,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in VKTX. Nuveen LLC acquired a new position in Viking Therapeutics during the 1st quarter valued at about $9,283,000. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. increased its position in Viking Therapeutics by 59.2% during the 1st quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. now owns 597,515 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $14,430,000 after buying an additional 222,293 shares in the last quarter. Woodline Partners LP increased its position in Viking Therapeutics by 222.7% during the 1st quarter. Woodline Partners LP now owns 301,078 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $7,271,000 after buying an additional 207,784 shares in the last quarter. Granahan Investment Management LLC increased its position in Viking Therapeutics by 20.4% during the 1st quarter. Granahan Investment Management LLC now owns 367,961 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $8,886,000 after buying an additional 62,375 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Cetera Investment Advisers increased its position in Viking Therapeutics by 67.5% during the 1st quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 144,349 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $3,486,000 after buying an additional 58,168 shares in the last quarter. 76.03% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages recently issued reports on VKTX. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on Viking Therapeutics from $98.00 to $102.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday. Weiss Ratings reissued a "sell (d-)" rating on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Citigroup increased their price objective on Viking Therapeutics from $31.00 to $38.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Thursday, July 24th. Zacks Research lowered Viking Therapeutics from a "hold" rating to a "strong sell" rating in a report on Tuesday. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald set a $105.00 price objective on Viking Therapeutics in a report on Thursday. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have given a Buy rating, two have assigned a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $86.50.

Viking Therapeutics Stock Up 8.0%

Viking Therapeutics stock opened at $33.92 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $3.81 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -16.00 and a beta of 0.64. Viking Therapeutics, Inc. has a 52 week low of $18.92 and a 52 week high of $81.73. The business's 50-day moving average price is $28.68 and its 200 day moving average price is $28.63.

Viking Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VKTX - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, October 22nd. The biotechnology company reported ($0.81) EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.67) by ($0.14). The firm's revenue for the quarter was up .0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned ($0.22) earnings per share. Equities analysts expect that Viking Therapeutics, Inc. will post -1.56 EPS for the current year.

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.

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