AlphaCentric Advisors LLC Trims Holdings in Viking Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VKTX)

AlphaCentric Advisors LLC decreased its holdings in shares of Viking Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VKTX - Free Report) by 78.8% during the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 3,500 shares of the biotechnology company's stock after selling 13,000 shares during the period. AlphaCentric Advisors LLC's holdings in Viking Therapeutics were worth $222,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of VKTX. Signaturefd LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Viking Therapeutics by 16.2% in the 3rd quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 1,351 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $86,000 after buying an additional 188 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its holdings in Viking Therapeutics by 124.6% in the third quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 438 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $28,000 after acquiring an additional 243 shares during the period. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV boosted its position in Viking Therapeutics by 84.3% in the 3rd quarter. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV now owns 553 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $35,000 after purchasing an additional 253 shares in the last quarter. 9258 Wealth Management LLC grew its position in Viking Therapeutics by 2.9% during the first quarter. 9258 Wealth Management LLC now owns 12,379 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $1,015,000 after buying an additional 351 shares during the period. Finally, Los Angeles Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Viking Therapeutics by 3.1% in the 2nd quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC now owns 12,278 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $651,000 after purchasing an additional 372 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.03% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Raymond James lifted their price target on shares of Viking Therapeutics from $116.00 to $118.00 and gave the company a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 25th. Oppenheimer reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and issued a $138.00 price target on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a research note on Wednesday, September 25th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. started coverage on Viking Therapeutics in a research note on Wednesday, September 11th. They issued an "overweight" rating and a $80.00 price objective for the company. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an "overweight" rating and set a $105.00 target price on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a research note on Thursday, September 12th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded shares of Viking Therapeutics to a "sell" rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 15th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $109.80.

Viking Therapeutics Price Performance

Shares of VKTX stock traded up $1.49 on Tuesday, hitting $64.63. The stock had a trading volume of 8,485,289 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,501,459. The company's 50 day moving average price is $64.39 and its 200-day moving average price is $61.77. Viking Therapeutics, Inc. has a 1 year low of $9.34 and a 1 year high of $99.41. The firm has a market capitalization of $7.20 billion, a P/E ratio of -68.12 and a beta of 1.00.

Viking Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VKTX - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The biotechnology company reported ($0.22) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.24) by $0.02. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted ($0.23) EPS. On average, equities analysts forecast that Viking Therapeutics, Inc. will post -0.98 EPS for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CFO Greg Zante sold 131,687 shares of Viking Therapeutics stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, October 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $76.61, for a total value of $10,088,541.07. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 149,366 shares in the company, valued at $11,442,929.26. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. In other news, CFO Greg Zante sold 131,687 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, October 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $76.61, for a total value of $10,088,541.07. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 149,366 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,442,929.26. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director J Matthew Singleton sold 20,786 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $57.53, for a total value of $1,195,818.58. Following the sale, the director now owns 9,500 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $546,535. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 525,473 shares of company stock worth $37,088,158 over the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 4.70% of the company's stock.

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.