Norges Bank Acquires Shares of 1,278,928 Viking Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VKTX)

Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Viking Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VKTX - Free Report) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor acquired 1,278,928 shares of the biotechnology company's stock, valued at approximately $51,464,000. Norges Bank owned about 1.15% of Viking Therapeutics at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Blue Trust Inc. increased its position in Viking Therapeutics by 75.9% during the 4th quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 716 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 309 shares during the period. YANKCOM Partnership purchased a new position in shares of Viking Therapeutics during the fourth quarter valued at about $33,000. S.A. Mason LLC lifted its holdings in Viking Therapeutics by 20.0% in the fourth quarter. S.A. Mason LLC now owns 1,800 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $72,000 after buying an additional 300 shares during the period. Wolff Wiese Magana LLC bought a new stake in Viking Therapeutics during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $75,000. Finally, AlphaQuest LLC raised its position in shares of Viking Therapeutics by 79.4% in the 4th quarter. AlphaQuest LLC now owns 1,938 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $78,000 after acquiring an additional 858 shares in the last quarter. 76.03% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Viking Therapeutics Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ VKTX traded down $1.60 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $22.62. 6,563,849 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 3,926,986. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.54 billion, a P/E ratio of -22.62 and a beta of 0.84. Viking Therapeutics, Inc. has a one year low of $21.53 and a one year high of $81.86. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $29.32 and a two-hundred day moving average of $45.20.

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Viking Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VKTX - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 5th. The biotechnology company reported ($0.32) earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.27) by ($0.05). During the same period in the previous year, the company posted ($0.25) EPS. Equities analysts forecast that Viking Therapeutics, Inc. will post -1.56 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Viking Therapeutics

In other news, COO Marianna Mancini sold 54,215 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Monday, January 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $42.75, for a total transaction of $2,317,691.25. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 374,134 shares in the company, valued at $15,994,228.50. This trade represents a 12.66 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Sarah Kathryn Rouan bought 1,240 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 31st. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $24.15 per share, with a total value of $29,946.00. Following the acquisition, the director now directly owns 1,240 shares in the company, valued at $29,946. This trade represents a ∞ increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders have sold 299,014 shares of company stock worth $12,782,849 in the last 90 days. 4.70% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently commented on VKTX. Citigroup initiated coverage on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a report on Friday, February 7th. They set a "neutral" rating and a $38.00 target price on the stock. HC Wainwright restated a "buy" rating and issued a $102.00 price objective on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a report on Wednesday, March 26th. Maxim Group dropped their price target 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. B. Riley reaffirmed a "buy" rating and set a $96.00 price objective (down previously from $109.00) on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Finally, Piper Sandler cut 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. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has assigned a hold rating, ten have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Viking Therapeutics currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $95.18.

Viking Therapeutics 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.