Hood River Capital Management LLC Sells 772,148 Shares of Viking Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VKTX)

Hood River Capital Management LLC decreased its stake in shares of Viking Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VKTX - Free Report) by 94.7% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 43,530 shares of the biotechnology company's stock after selling 772,148 shares during the period. Hood River Capital Management LLC's holdings in Viking Therapeutics were worth $1,752,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in VKTX. J. Safra Sarasin Holding AG bought a new position in shares of Viking Therapeutics during the 4th quarter valued at $552,000. Stifel Financial Corp lifted its holdings in Viking Therapeutics by 36.1% in the fourth quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 178,819 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $7,196,000 after acquiring an additional 47,471 shares during the period. OneDigital Investment Advisors LLC boosted its position in Viking Therapeutics by 59.2% in the fourth quarter. OneDigital Investment Advisors LLC now owns 5,189 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $209,000 after purchasing an additional 1,929 shares during the last quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC grew its stake in shares of Viking Therapeutics by 46.7% during the 4th quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 13,923 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $560,000 after purchasing an additional 4,433 shares during the period. Finally, MML Investors Services LLC increased its position in shares of Viking Therapeutics by 45.8% during the 4th quarter. MML Investors Services LLC now owns 29,673 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $1,194,000 after purchasing an additional 9,321 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 76.03% of the company's stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Sarah Kathryn Rouan bought 1,240 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 31st. The stock was purchased 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 of the company's stock, valued at $29,946. The trade was a ∞ increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Corporate insiders own 4.10% of the company's stock.

Viking Therapeutics Trading Up 1.4 %

NASDAQ:VKTX opened at $25.84 on Thursday. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $26.66 and a 200 day moving average price of $41.19. Viking Therapeutics, Inc. has a 12-month low of $18.92 and a 12-month high of $81.86. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.90 billion, a P/E ratio of -25.84 and a beta of 0.84.

Viking Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VKTX - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 23rd. The biotechnology company reported ($0.41) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.34) by ($0.07). During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted ($0.26) EPS. On average, research analysts predict that Viking Therapeutics, Inc. will post -1.56 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Raymond James raised their price objective on shares of Viking Therapeutics from $122.00 to $125.00 and gave the stock a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Maxim Group dropped their price target 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. B. Riley restated a "buy" rating and issued a $96.00 price objective (down from $109.00) on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a research note on Friday, February 7th. Citigroup began coverage on Viking Therapeutics in a report on Friday, February 7th. They issued a "neutral" rating and a $38.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Scotiabank initiated coverage on Viking Therapeutics in a report on Thursday, February 13th. They set a "sector outperform" rating and a $102.00 price target for the company. One 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 issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $89.75.

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.

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