Viking Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VKTX) Stake Boosted by DnB Asset Management AS

DnB Asset Management AS grew its stake in Viking Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VKTX - Free Report) by 98.4% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 30,666 shares of the biotechnology company's stock after acquiring an additional 15,209 shares during the quarter. DnB Asset Management AS's holdings in Viking Therapeutics were worth $1,234,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Blue Trust Inc. raised its holdings in Viking Therapeutics by 75.9% in the 4th quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 716 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $29,000 after acquiring an additional 309 shares during the last quarter. YANKCOM Partnership purchased a new stake in shares of Viking Therapeutics in the fourth quarter valued at $33,000. S.A. Mason LLC lifted its position in Viking Therapeutics by 20.0% during 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 acquired a new stake in Viking Therapeutics in the 4th quarter worth about $75,000. Finally, AlphaQuest LLC boosted its stake in 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 buying an additional 858 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.03% of the company's stock.

Viking Therapeutics Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:VKTX traded up $1.77 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, hitting $25.68. 4,401,250 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 3,900,756. The firm's 50 day simple moving average is $29.77 and its 200 day simple moving average is $45.78. The firm has a market cap of $2.88 billion, a P/E ratio of -25.68 and a beta of 0.90. Viking Therapeutics, Inc. has a 52-week low of $23.27 and a 52-week high of $81.86.

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on VKTX shares. Maxim Group cut their price objective on shares of Viking Therapeutics from $120.00 to $70.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, February 7th. Citigroup initiated coverage on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a research note on Friday, February 7th. They set a "neutral" rating and a $38.00 price target on the stock. B. Riley reissued a "buy" rating and set a $96.00 price objective (down from $109.00) on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a research note on Friday, February 7th. Raymond James lifted their target price on Viking Therapeutics from $122.00 to $125.00 and gave the company a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, HC Wainwright reissued a "buy" rating and set a $102.00 price target on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a research report on Wednesday, March 26th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has given a hold rating, ten have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $95.18.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Viking Therapeutics news, CFO Greg Zante sold 50,309 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, January 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $42.75, for a total transaction of $2,150,709.75. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 165,259 shares in the company, valued at $7,064,822.25. This represents a 23.34 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Brian Lian sold 194,490 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly 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 position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 299,014 shares of company stock worth $12,782,849 in the last quarter. 4.70% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.