Viking Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VKTX) Shares Sold by Legal & General Group Plc

Legal & General Group Plc lowered its stake in shares of Viking Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VKTX) by 9.3% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 107,370 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock after selling 11,001 shares during the period. Legal & General Group Plc’s holdings in Viking Therapeutics were worth $4,321,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in VKTX. FMR LLC grew its holdings in shares of Viking Therapeutics by 0.6% in the 4th quarter. FMR LLC now owns 16,715,438 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $672,629,000 after acquiring an additional 96,008 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in Viking Therapeutics by 0.9% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,880,713 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $75,704,000 after purchasing an additional 17,046 shares in the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA grew its holdings in Viking Therapeutics by 446.7% in the fourth quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 1,357,241 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $54,615,000 after purchasing an additional 1,108,972 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Viking Therapeutics in the fourth quarter valued at $51,464,000. Finally, Alliancebernstein L.P. raised its stake in shares of Viking Therapeutics by 7.9% during the 4th quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 1,115,068 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $44,870,000 after buying an additional 81,183 shares during the last quarter. 76.03% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Sarah Kathryn Rouan purchased 1,240 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 31st. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $24.15 per share, for a total transaction of $29,946.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now owns 1,240 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $29,946. This trade represents a ∞ increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 4.70% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Viking Therapeutics Price Performance

NASDAQ:VKTX opened at $23.72 on Tuesday. Viking Therapeutics, Inc. has a 1-year low of $18.92 and a 1-year high of $81.86. The stock has a market cap of $2.66 billion, a P/E ratio of -23.72 and a beta of 0.84. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $26.83 and a two-hundred day moving average of $41.41.

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

VKTX has been the topic of a number of research reports. Maxim Group lowered 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 note on Friday, February 7th. The Goldman Sachs Group began coverage on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a research note on Tuesday, April 8th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $30.00 price objective for the company. Piper Sandler reduced their target price on Viking Therapeutics from $74.00 to $71.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. B. Riley reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $96.00 price target (down from $109.00) on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a report on Friday, February 7th. Finally, Citigroup assumed coverage on Viking Therapeutics in a research note on Friday, February 7th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $38.00 price objective on the stock. 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 one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Viking Therapeutics currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $89.75.

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.