Hood River Capital Management LLC Decreases Stock Holdings in Viking Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VKTX)

Hood River Capital Management LLC lessened its stake in Viking Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VKTX - Free Report) by 94.7% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 43,530 shares of the biotechnology company's stock after selling 772,148 shares during the period. Hood River Capital Management LLC's holdings in Viking Therapeutics were worth $1,752,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in VKTX. Sanctuary Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Viking Therapeutics by 51.3% during the third quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC now owns 5,416 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $343,000 after buying an additional 1,836 shares during the period. World Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Viking Therapeutics during the 3rd quarter worth about $240,000. Tidal Investments LLC grew its stake in Viking Therapeutics by 296.8% during the 3rd quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 15,190 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $962,000 after purchasing an additional 11,362 shares during the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Viking Therapeutics by 29.9% in the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 593,528 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $37,576,000 after purchasing an additional 136,729 shares during the period. Finally, Eagle Bay Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Viking Therapeutics during the fourth quarter worth about $92,000. 76.03% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Sarah Kathryn Rouan bought 1,240 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, March 31st. The shares were purchased at an average price of $24.15 per share, for a total transaction of $29,946.00. Following the acquisition, the director now owns 1,240 shares in the company, valued at $29,946. This represents a ∞ increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Insiders own 4.10% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Raymond James boosted their target price on shares of Viking Therapeutics from $122.00 to $125.00 and gave the company a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Truist Financial restated a "buy" rating and issued a $75.00 price objective (down from $95.00) on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a research report on Monday. Morgan Stanley cut their price target on shares of Viking Therapeutics from $105.00 to $102.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Thursday. Scotiabank initiated coverage on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. They set a "sector outperform" rating and a $102.00 price target for the company. Finally, HC Wainwright reiterated a "buy" rating and set a $102.00 price objective on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a research note on Thursday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating, ten have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $85.75.

Viking Therapeutics Stock Down 2.1 %

Viking Therapeutics stock traded down $0.52 during midday trading on Monday, reaching $24.47. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,551,686 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,052,068. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $26.47 and a 200-day simple moving average of $40.34. The company has a market cap of $2.75 billion, a P/E ratio of -24.48 and a beta of 0.84. Viking Therapeutics, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $18.92 and a fifty-two week high of $81.86.

Viking Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VKTX - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 23rd. The biotechnology company reported ($0.41) earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of ($0.34) by ($0.07). During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted ($0.26) earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Viking Therapeutics, Inc. will post -1.56 earnings per share 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.