Viking Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VKTX) Shares Sold by International Assets Investment Management LLC

International Assets Investment Management LLC cut its position in shares of Viking Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VKTX - Free Report) by 98.2% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 18,276 shares of the biotechnology company's stock after selling 985,757 shares during the period. International Assets Investment Management LLC's holdings in Viking Therapeutics were worth $752,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Oak Ridge Investments LLC bought a new stake in Viking Therapeutics during the 3rd quarter valued at $837,000. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. grew its stake in Viking Therapeutics by 43.5% in the third quarter. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. now owns 102,324 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $6,478,000 after purchasing an additional 31,011 shares during the last quarter. Nvwm LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Viking Therapeutics during the third quarter valued at about $999,000. Chartwell Investment Partners LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Viking Therapeutics by 88.0% in the 3rd quarter. Chartwell Investment Partners LLC now owns 36,666 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $2,322,000 after buying an additional 17,159 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Stifel Financial Corp grew its position in shares of Viking Therapeutics by 92.1% in the 3rd quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 131,348 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $8,316,000 after buying an additional 62,956 shares during the last quarter. 76.03% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Viking Therapeutics Trading Down 3.2 %

VKTX stock traded down $1.29 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $39.31. The stock had a trading volume of 3,151,972 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,238,168. The company's fifty day simple moving average is $50.04 and its 200 day simple moving average is $56.64. The company has a market cap of $4.38 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -42.27 and a beta of 0.95. Viking Therapeutics, Inc. has a 52-week low of $20.28 and a 52-week high of $99.41.

Viking Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VKTX - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 23rd. The biotechnology company reported ($0.22) EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of ($0.24) by $0.02. During the same quarter last year, the company posted ($0.23) earnings per share. Sell-side analysts predict that Viking Therapeutics, Inc. will post -0.97 EPS for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Brian Lian sold 194,490 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Monday, January 6th. The shares were 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 owns 2,366,570 shares in the company, valued at approximately $101,170,867.50. This represents a 7.59 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Sarah Kathryn Rouan sold 11,000 shares of Viking Therapeutics stock in a transaction on Friday, October 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $80.89, for a total transaction of $889,790.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 9,500 shares in the company, valued at $768,455. This represents a 53.66 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 443,701 shares of company stock worth $23,898,520 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 4.70% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have weighed in on VKTX. Oppenheimer restated an "outperform" rating and issued a $138.00 target price on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a research note on Wednesday, September 25th. William Blair restated an "outperform" rating on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a report on Wednesday, November 20th. B. Riley began coverage on Viking Therapeutics in a research note on Friday, November 22nd. They set a "buy" rating and a $109.00 price target on the stock. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Viking Therapeutics to a "sell" rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 15th. Finally, HC Wainwright reaffirmed a "buy" rating and set a $102.00 target price on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a report on Wednesday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and a consensus price target of $106.75.

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.