Virtu Financial LLC Sells 28,263 Shares of Viking Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VKTX)

Virtu Financial LLC cut its holdings in Viking Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VKTX - Free Report) by 66.3% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 14,350 shares of the biotechnology company's stock after selling 28,263 shares during the period. Virtu Financial LLC's holdings in Viking Therapeutics were worth $347,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in VKTX. Parallel Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Viking Therapeutics by 64.8% in the 1st quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 1,363 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $33,000 after buying an additional 536 shares during the last quarter. NBC Securities Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Viking Therapeutics by 222,100.0% in the 1st quarter. NBC Securities Inc. now owns 2,222 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $53,000 after buying an additional 2,221 shares during the last quarter. JNBA Financial Advisors bought a new stake in shares of Viking Therapeutics in the 1st quarter worth about $56,000. Future Financial Wealth Managment LLC increased its holdings in shares of Viking Therapeutics by 1,242.9% in the 1st quarter. Future Financial Wealth Managment LLC now owns 2,350 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $57,000 after buying an additional 2,175 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Kapitalo Investimentos Ltda bought a new stake in shares of Viking Therapeutics in the 4th quarter worth about $63,000. 76.03% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Viking Therapeutics

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on VKTX shares. Raymond James Financial reduced their target price on shares of Viking Therapeutics from $125.00 to $122.00 and set a "strong-buy" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, July 24th. Truist Financial reaffirmed a "buy" rating and set a $75.00 price target (down from $95.00) on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a research note on Monday, April 28th. Citigroup lifted their price target on shares of Viking Therapeutics from $31.00 to $38.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 24th. Cantor Fitzgerald raised shares of Viking Therapeutics to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 29th. Finally, Morgan Stanley dropped their price target on shares of Viking Therapeutics from $105.00 to $102.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 24th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating, ten have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $86.92.

Viking Therapeutics Price Performance

Viking Therapeutics stock opened at $40.24 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $4.52 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -26.30 and a beta of 0.67. Viking Therapeutics, Inc. has a 1 year low of $18.92 and a 1 year high of $81.73. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $30.86 and a two-hundred day moving average of $28.77.

Viking Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VKTX - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 23rd. The biotechnology company reported ($0.58) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.44) by ($0.14). Viking Therapeutics's revenue for the quarter was up NaN% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned ($0.20) EPS. Research analysts expect that Viking Therapeutics, Inc. will post -1.56 earnings per share 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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