Viking Therapeutics, Inc. $VKTX Shares Sold by 683 Capital Management LLC

683 Capital Management LLC lessened its position in shares of Viking Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VKTX) by 16.7% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 254,000 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock after selling 51,000 shares during the quarter. 683 Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Viking Therapeutics were worth $6,731,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the business. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Viking Therapeutics during the 2nd quarter valued at about $46,846,000. Ameriprise Financial Inc. grew its position in shares of Viking Therapeutics by 4.1% in the second quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 1,476,314 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $39,122,000 after purchasing an additional 58,191 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. increased its stake in shares of Viking Therapeutics by 27.0% during the 2nd quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. now owns 822,278 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $21,790,000 after purchasing an additional 174,887 shares in the last quarter. Frontier Capital Management Co. LLC raised its position in shares of Viking Therapeutics by 52.8% during the 2nd quarter. Frontier Capital Management Co. LLC now owns 638,204 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $16,912,000 after purchasing an additional 220,396 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp lifted its stake in Viking Therapeutics by 0.5% in the 1st quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 538,636 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $13,008,000 after buying an additional 2,652 shares in the last quarter. 76.03% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Viking Therapeutics

In other news, CEO Brian Lian sold 38,989 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, October 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $35.01, for a total transaction of $1,365,004.89. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 2,419,109 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $84,693,006.09. The trade was a 1.59% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, Director Charles A. Rowland, Jr. sold 60,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, October 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $35.57, for a total value of $2,134,200.00. Following the sale, the director owned 30,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,067,100. The trade was a 66.67% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last three months, insiders sold 111,359 shares of company stock worth $3,932,155. 4.10% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Viking Therapeutics Trading Down 0.3%

Shares of NASDAQ:VKTX opened at $37.08 on Friday. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $35.81 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $31.36. Viking Therapeutics, Inc. has a 12-month low of $18.92 and a 12-month high of $48.55. The firm has a market cap of $4.19 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -17.49 and a beta of 0.65.

Viking Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VKTX) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 22nd. The biotechnology company reported ($0.81) EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.67) by ($0.14). During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned ($0.22) EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up .0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts forecast that Viking Therapeutics, Inc. will post -1.56 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have weighed in on VKTX shares. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on Viking Therapeutics from $98.00 to $102.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 23rd. B. Riley upgraded Viking Therapeutics to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 23rd. Weiss Ratings reissued a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their target price on shares of Viking Therapeutics from $80.00 to $75.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, October 24th. Finally, BTIG Research reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $125.00 price target on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a report on Monday, September 22nd. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have given a Buy rating, three have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Viking Therapeutics currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $87.14.

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.