Viking Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VKTX) Shares Sold by Pier Capital LLC

Pier Capital LLC decreased its stake in Viking Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VKTX) by 35.5% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 57,504 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock after selling 31,643 shares during the period. Pier Capital LLC owned approximately 0.05% of Viking Therapeutics worth $2,314,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans lifted its position in shares of Viking Therapeutics by 2.7% during the 3rd quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 28,251 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $1,789,000 after acquiring an additional 748 shares during the period. Prospera Financial Services Inc acquired a new position in Viking Therapeutics during the third quarter worth $298,000. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA boosted its position in Viking Therapeutics by 4.9% during the third quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 248,269 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $15,718,000 after purchasing an additional 11,668 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in Viking Therapeutics by 6.6% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 715,597 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $45,304,000 after purchasing an additional 44,122 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Raymond James Trust N.A. purchased a new position in shares of Viking Therapeutics in the third quarter valued at $279,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.03% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts recently commented on the stock. Scotiabank assumed coverage on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. They issued a “sector outperform” rating and a $102.00 price objective on the stock. Raymond James increased their price target on shares of Viking Therapeutics from $122.00 to $125.00 and gave the company a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Citigroup started coverage on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a research note on Friday, February 7th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $38.00 price objective for the company. Piper Sandler reduced 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. Finally, Maxim Group dropped their price target on Viking Therapeutics from $120.00 to $70.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, February 7th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has issued a hold rating, eleven have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $97.67.

Viking Therapeutics Trading Up 1.1 %

Shares of NASDAQ:VKTX opened at $29.28 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $3.29 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -29.28 and a beta of 0.90. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $30.84 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $47.33. Viking Therapeutics, Inc. has a 12-month low of $24.41 and a 12-month high of $89.10.

Viking Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VKTX) last released 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 period last year, the business earned ($0.25) EPS. As a group, research analysts forecast that Viking Therapeutics, Inc. will post -1.56 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Brian Lian sold 194,490 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, January 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $42.75, for a total value of $8,314,447.50. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2,366,570 shares in the company, valued at $101,170,867.50. This trade represents a 7.59 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Greg Zante sold 50,309 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 value of $2,150,709.75. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 165,259 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,064,822.25. The trade was a 23.34 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 299,014 shares of company stock valued at $12,782,849 in the last ninety days. Company insiders own 4.70% of the company’s stock.

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.