Viking Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VKTX) Shares Sold by Sei Investments Co.

Sei Investments Co. lowered its position in Viking Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VKTX) by 41.9% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 21,451 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock after selling 15,486 shares during the quarter. Sei Investments Co.’s holdings in Viking Therapeutics were worth $863,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. American Century Companies Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Viking Therapeutics by 9.4% in the 4th quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 301,582 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $12,136,000 after acquiring an additional 25,824 shares during the last quarter. Runnymede Capital Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in Viking Therapeutics during the fourth quarter worth approximately $253,000. Virtu Financial LLC acquired a new position in shares of Viking Therapeutics in the 4th quarter valued at $1,715,000. Magnetar Financial LLC purchased a new position in shares of Viking Therapeutics in the 4th quarter valued at $1,936,000. Finally, Teacher Retirement System of Texas lifted its holdings in shares of Viking Therapeutics by 18.7% in the 4th quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas now owns 29,537 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $1,189,000 after purchasing an additional 4,647 shares during the last quarter. 76.03% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have commented on VKTX shares. Scotiabank assumed coverage on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. They issued a “sector outperform” rating and a $102.00 price objective on the stock. Raymond James lifted their price target 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. B. Riley restated a “buy” rating and set a $96.00 target price (down previously from $109.00) on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Piper Sandler cut their target price on shares of Viking Therapeutics from $74.00 to $71.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group started coverage on Viking Therapeutics in a research report on Tuesday. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $30.00 price objective for the company. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating, ten have issued a buy rating and one has assigned 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 price target of $89.75.

Viking Therapeutics Price Performance

Shares of VKTX stock opened at $19.98 on Wednesday. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $28.52 and a two-hundred day moving average of $44.21. Viking Therapeutics, Inc. has a 1-year low of $19.58 and a 1-year high of $81.86. The firm has a market cap of $2.24 billion, a P/E ratio of -19.98 and a beta of 0.84.

Viking Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VKTX) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 5th. The biotechnology company reported ($0.32) earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.27) by ($0.05). During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted ($0.25) EPS. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Viking Therapeutics, Inc. will post -1.56 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Sarah Kathryn Rouan purchased 1,240 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the director now owns 1,240 shares in the company, valued at $29,946. This trade represents a ∞ increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 4.70% of the company’s stock.

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.