Viking Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VKTX) Shares Sold by SG Americas Securities LLC

SG Americas Securities LLC decreased its position in Viking Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VKTX - Free Report) by 61.6% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 31,493 shares of the biotechnology company's stock after selling 50,606 shares during the period. SG Americas Securities LLC's holdings in Viking Therapeutics were worth $586,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Rafferty Asset Management LLC increased its stake in Viking Therapeutics by 63.6% in the 3rd quarter. Rafferty Asset Management LLC now owns 560,180 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $6,201,000 after buying an additional 217,827 shares during the last quarter. Aigen Investment Management LP purchased a new stake in shares of Viking Therapeutics during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $148,000. Citigroup Inc. increased its stake in shares of Viking Therapeutics by 73.1% during the 3rd quarter. Citigroup Inc. now owns 359,585 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $3,981,000 after purchasing an additional 151,826 shares during the last quarter. GSA Capital Partners LLP increased its stake in shares of Viking Therapeutics by 48.5% during the 3rd quarter. GSA Capital Partners LLP now owns 89,741 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $993,000 after purchasing an additional 29,319 shares during the last quarter. Finally, American Century Companies Inc. increased its stake in shares of Viking Therapeutics by 59.6% during the 3rd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 2,202,228 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $24,379,000 after purchasing an additional 822,156 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.03% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Viking Therapeutics

In other Viking Therapeutics news, Director Sarah Kathryn Rouan sold 30,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $23.05, for a total value of $691,500.00. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In other news, Director Sarah Kathryn Rouan sold 30,000 shares of Viking Therapeutics stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $23.05, for a total transaction of $691,500.00. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Brian Lian sold 269,079 shares of Viking Therapeutics stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $26.87, for a total transaction of $7,230,152.73. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2,184,882 shares in the company, valued at approximately $58,707,779.34. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 359,079 shares of company stock worth $9,461,153. 4.40% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Viking Therapeutics Stock Performance

NASDAQ:VKTX traded up $2.77 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $76.45. The company's stock had a trading volume of 2,722,839 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,307,497. The firm has a market capitalization of $7.68 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -82.78 and a beta of 1.05. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $55.79 and a 200-day simple moving average of $28.89. Viking Therapeutics, Inc. has a 1 year low of $8.28 and a 1 year high of $99.41.

Viking Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VKTX - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, February 7th. The biotechnology company reported ($0.25) EPS for the quarter, hitting analysts' consensus estimates of ($0.25). During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted ($0.26) earnings per share. Equities analysts anticipate that Viking Therapeutics, Inc. will post -1.1 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Maxim Group restated a "buy" rating and set a $120.00 price target on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a research note on Friday, March 15th. HC Wainwright reaffirmed a "buy" rating and issued a $90.00 price objective on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a report on Tuesday, March 26th. Truist Financial raised their price objective on shares of Viking Therapeutics from $32.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, February 29th. StockNews.com raised shares of Viking Therapeutics to a "sell" rating in a report on Friday, February 9th. Finally, Oppenheimer raised their price objective on shares of Viking Therapeutics from $116.00 to $138.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Tuesday, March 26th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $112.25.

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.