Clearbridge Investments LLC Sells 98,456 Shares of Viking Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VKTX)

Clearbridge Investments LLC cut its holdings in Viking Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VKTX) by 13.3% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 640,118 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock after selling 98,456 shares during the period. Clearbridge Investments LLC owned approximately 0.57% of Viking Therapeutics worth $25,758,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in VKTX. Virtu Financial LLC bought a new stake in Viking Therapeutics in the fourth quarter worth approximately $1,715,000. Stifel Financial Corp increased its stake in shares of Viking Therapeutics by 92.1% in the 3rd quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 131,348 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $8,316,000 after acquiring an additional 62,956 shares in the last quarter. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. lifted its position in shares of Viking Therapeutics by 109.1% during the 3rd quarter. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. now owns 34,023 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $2,154,000 after acquiring an additional 17,754 shares during the period. Institute for Wealth Management LLC. boosted its stake in Viking Therapeutics by 122.4% during the fourth quarter. Institute for Wealth Management LLC. now owns 80,602 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $3,243,000 after acquiring an additional 44,365 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Janney Montgomery Scott LLC grew its holdings in Viking Therapeutics by 103.1% in the fourth quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 42,612 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $1,715,000 after purchasing an additional 21,627 shares during the period. 76.03% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, COO Marianna Mancini sold 54,215 shares of Viking Therapeutics stock in a transaction dated Monday, January 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $42.75, for a total value of $2,317,691.25. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 374,134 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $15,994,228.50. This trade represents a 12.66 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Greg Zante sold 50,309 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 165,259 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,064,822.25. This trade represents a 23.34 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 299,014 shares of company stock valued at $12,782,849. Company insiders own 4.70% of the company’s stock.

Viking Therapeutics Trading Down 1.0 %

Shares of VKTX opened at $23.91 on Wednesday. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $29.94 and a 200 day moving average of $45.92. The company has a market capitalization of $2.68 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -23.91 and a beta of 0.90. Viking Therapeutics, Inc. has a 12 month low of $23.27 and a 12 month high of $81.86.

Viking Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VKTX) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The biotechnology company reported ($0.32) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.27) by ($0.05). During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned ($0.25) earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Viking Therapeutics, Inc. will post -1.56 earnings per share for the current year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. 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 research report on Friday, February 7th. Raymond James increased their price target on Viking Therapeutics from $122.00 to $125.00 and gave the stock a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Citigroup assumed coverage on Viking Therapeutics in a report on Friday, February 7th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $38.00 price objective for the company. HC Wainwright reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $102.00 target price on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a report on Wednesday, March 26th. Finally, Scotiabank initiated coverage on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. They set a “sector outperform” rating and a $102.00 price target for the company. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has assigned a hold rating, ten have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $95.18.

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.