Hsbc Holdings PLC Sells 9,437 Shares of Viking Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VKTX)

Hsbc Holdings PLC reduced its stake in shares of Viking Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VKTX - Free Report) by 61.7% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 5,849 shares of the biotechnology company's stock after selling 9,437 shares during the quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC's holdings in Viking Therapeutics were worth $233,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of VKTX. Blue Trust Inc. raised its stake in 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 buying an additional 309 shares in the last quarter. YANKCOM Partnership bought a new position in shares of Viking Therapeutics in the 4th quarter worth approximately $33,000. FIL Ltd boosted its position in shares of Viking Therapeutics by 116.8% during the fourth quarter. FIL Ltd now owns 1,203 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $48,000 after purchasing an additional 648 shares in the last quarter. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC grew its stake in Viking Therapeutics by 170.2% in the fourth quarter. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC now owns 1,351 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $55,000 after purchasing an additional 851 shares during the period. Finally, S.A. Mason LLC raised its holdings in Viking Therapeutics by 20.0% in the fourth quarter. S.A. Mason LLC now owns 1,800 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $72,000 after purchasing an additional 300 shares in the last quarter. 76.03% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on VKTX shares. Morgan Stanley lowered their target price on shares of Viking Therapeutics from $105.00 to $102.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 24th. Maxim Group cut their price objective on shares of Viking Therapeutics from $120.00 to $70.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Cantor Fitzgerald upgraded Viking Therapeutics to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 29th. Piper Sandler dropped their price objective on Viking Therapeutics from $74.00 to $71.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group assumed coverage on Viking Therapeutics in a research report on Tuesday, April 8th. They issued a "neutral" rating and a $30.00 target price for the company. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating, ten have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $87.15.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Sarah Kathryn Rouan bought 1,240 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 31st. The shares were bought at an average cost of $24.15 per share, for a total transaction of $29,946.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 1,240 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $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. 4.10% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Viking Therapeutics Trading Up 1.8%

Shares of VKTX traded up $0.48 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $27.05. 852,196 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 4,105,757. The company has a market cap of $3.04 billion, a P/E ratio of -27.04 and a beta of 0.75. The company's 50-day moving average price is $26.12 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $37.24. Viking Therapeutics, Inc. has a 52-week low of $18.92 and a 52-week high of $81.73.

Viking Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VKTX - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 23rd. The biotechnology company reported ($0.41) EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.31) by ($0.10). During the same quarter last year, the firm posted ($0.26) earnings per share. The firm's revenue was up .0% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts forecast that Viking Therapeutics, Inc. will post -1.56 EPS for the current year.

About Viking Therapeutics

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.