Crewe Advisors LLC Cuts Holdings in Viking Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VKTX)

Crewe Advisors LLC lessened its position in shares of Viking Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VKTX) by 49.2% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 8,322 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock after selling 8,044 shares during the quarter. Crewe Advisors LLC’s holdings in Viking Therapeutics were worth $335,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. International Assets Investment Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Viking Therapeutics by 10,775.6% during the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 1,004,033 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $63,565,000 after purchasing an additional 994,801 shares during the period. Perpetual Ltd increased its position in shares of Viking Therapeutics by 55.4% in the third quarter. Perpetual Ltd now owns 1,269,152 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $80,350,000 after acquiring an additional 452,344 shares in the last quarter. Fiera Capital Corp purchased a new position in shares of Viking Therapeutics in the 3rd quarter valued at $18,443,000. Eventide Asset Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Viking Therapeutics by 79.1% in the 3rd quarter. Eventide Asset Management LLC now owns 452,969 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $28,677,000 after acquiring an additional 200,000 shares during the period. Finally, Nepsis Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Viking Therapeutics during the 3rd quarter valued at $11,251,000. 76.03% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling at Viking Therapeutics

In other Viking Therapeutics news, 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 value of $2,150,709.75. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 165,259 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,064,822.25. This represents a 23.34 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Brian Lian sold 194,490 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $42.75, for a total value of $8,314,447.50. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 2,366,570 shares in the company, valued at approximately $101,170,867.50. This represents a 7.59 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 301,014 shares of company stock worth $12,920,189 over the last 90 days. Insiders own 4.70% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

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

Viking Therapeutics Price Performance

Shares of VKTX stock opened at $33.50 on Thursday. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $40.92 and a two-hundred day moving average of $54.17. Viking Therapeutics, Inc. has a 1-year low of $23.11 and a 1-year high of $99.41.

Viking Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VKTX) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The biotechnology company reported ($0.32) EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.27) by ($0.05). During the same period last year, the business posted ($0.25) earnings per share. On average, research analysts forecast that Viking Therapeutics, Inc. will post -0.97 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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.