SG Americas Securities LLC Boosts Stock Holdings in Viking Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VKTX)

SG Americas Securities LLC boosted its position in Viking Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VKTX - Free Report) by 177.0% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 23,552 shares of the biotechnology company's stock after purchasing an additional 15,049 shares during the quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC's holdings in Viking Therapeutics were worth $948,000 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 the company. Signaturefd LLC boosted its stake in Viking Therapeutics by 16.2% during the third quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 1,351 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $86,000 after buying an additional 188 shares during the last quarter. Stone House Investment Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Viking Therapeutics by 66.7% in the third quarter. Stone House Investment Management LLC now owns 500 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $32,000 after purchasing an additional 200 shares during the period. Keudell Morrison Wealth Management increased its position in Viking Therapeutics by 5.9% during the third quarter. Keudell Morrison Wealth Management now owns 4,306 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $273,000 after purchasing an additional 241 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its stake in Viking Therapeutics by 124.6% during the third quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 438 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $28,000 after purchasing an additional 243 shares during the period. Finally, Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV boosted its holdings 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 valued at $35,000 after purchasing an additional 253 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.03% of the company's stock.

Insider Transactions at Viking Therapeutics

In other Viking Therapeutics news, CEO Brian Lian sold 194,490 shares of Viking Therapeutics stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $42.75, for a total transaction of $8,314,447.50. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 2,366,570 shares of the company's stock, valued at $101,170,867.50. The trade was a 7.59 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Lawson Macartney sold 2,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $68.67, for a total value of $137,340.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 47,965 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $3,293,756.55. This represents a 4.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 301,014 shares of company stock valued at $12,920,189. 4.70% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages recently weighed in on VKTX. Piper Sandler began coverage on Viking Therapeutics in a research report on Monday, December 2nd. They issued an "overweight" rating and a $74.00 price objective for the company. StockNews.com upgraded Viking Therapeutics to a "sell" rating in a report on Tuesday, October 15th. B. Riley began coverage on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a report on Friday, November 22nd. They issued a "buy" rating and a $109.00 price objective on the stock. William Blair reaffirmed an "outperform" rating on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a research report on Wednesday, November 20th. Finally, HC Wainwright reiterated a "buy" rating and set a $102.00 price target on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a research report on Friday, January 17th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Viking Therapeutics has a consensus rating of "Buy" and a consensus price target of $106.75.

Viking Therapeutics Stock Down 2.6 %

Viking Therapeutics stock traded down $0.89 during trading on Wednesday, reaching $33.43. The stock had a trading volume of 1,635,843 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,583,935. Viking Therapeutics, Inc. has a 52-week low of $22.51 and a 52-week high of $99.41. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $42.93 and a 200 day moving average price of $54.89. The stock has a market cap of $3.73 billion, a PE ratio of -35.95 and a beta of 0.95.

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.