Clearbridge Investments LLC Decreases Stock Holdings in Viking Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VKTX)

Clearbridge Investments LLC lessened its stake in shares of Viking Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VKTX - Free Report) by 13.3% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 640,118 shares of the biotechnology company's stock after selling 98,456 shares during the period. Clearbridge Investments LLC owned approximately 0.57% of Viking Therapeutics worth $25,758,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Blue Trust Inc. raised its holdings 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 during the last quarter. YANKCOM Partnership purchased a new position in Viking Therapeutics in the 4th quarter worth approximately $33,000. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC lifted its position in Viking Therapeutics by 170.2% in the 4th quarter. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC now owns 1,351 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $55,000 after acquiring an additional 851 shares in the last quarter. S.A. Mason LLC boosted its stake in Viking Therapeutics by 20.0% during the 4th quarter. S.A. Mason LLC now owns 1,800 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $72,000 after purchasing an additional 300 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Wolff Wiese Magana LLC bought a new stake in shares of Viking Therapeutics in the 4th quarter worth $75,000. Institutional investors own 76.03% of the company's stock.

Viking Therapeutics Trading Up 7.4 %

NASDAQ VKTX traded up $1.77 on Wednesday, hitting $25.68. 4,401,250 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 3,900,756. The business's 50 day moving average price is $29.77 and its 200-day moving average price is $45.78. Viking Therapeutics, Inc. has a 52-week low of $23.27 and a 52-week high of $81.86. The company has a market capitalization of $2.88 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -25.68 and a beta of 0.90.

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Viking Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VKTX - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 5th. The biotechnology company reported ($0.32) earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of ($0.27) by ($0.05). During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned ($0.25) earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Viking Therapeutics, Inc. will post -1.56 earnings per share for the current year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

VKTX has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Maxim Group dropped their price objective on Viking Therapeutics from $120.00 to $70.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Raymond James raised their price target on shares of Viking Therapeutics from $122.00 to $125.00 and gave the company a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Piper Sandler lowered their price objective on shares of Viking Therapeutics from $74.00 to $71.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. HC Wainwright restated a "buy" rating and issued a $102.00 target price on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a report on Wednesday, March 26th. Finally, Citigroup initiated coverage on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a research note on Friday, February 7th. They set a "neutral" rating and a $38.00 target price for the company. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has given a hold rating, ten have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $95.18.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Viking Therapeutics news, Director Sarah Kathryn Rouan acquired 1,240 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 31st. The shares were acquired 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 directly owns 1,240 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $29,946. The trade was 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. Also, CEO Brian Lian sold 194,490 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $42.75, for a total value of $8,314,447.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2,366,570 shares in the company, valued at approximately $101,170,867.50. This represents a 7.59 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 299,014 shares of company stock worth $12,782,849 over the last three months. 4.70% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Viking Therapeutics Company 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.