SeaCrest Wealth Management LLC Lowers Stock Position in Viking Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VKTX)

SeaCrest Wealth Management LLC trimmed its holdings in shares of Viking Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VKTX) by 11.0% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 6,400 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock after selling 790 shares during the period. SeaCrest Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Viking Therapeutics were worth $258,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of VKTX. Renaissance Technologies LLC acquired a new position in shares of Viking Therapeutics during the 2nd quarter worth $8,450,000. Amalgamated Bank grew its position in shares of Viking Therapeutics by 103.5% in the second quarter. Amalgamated Bank now owns 7,035 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $373,000 after purchasing an additional 3,578 shares during the last quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC grew its holdings in Viking Therapeutics by 204.4% during the 2nd quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 13,746 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $738,000 after buying an additional 9,230 shares during the last quarter. Inspire Investing LLC increased its position in Viking Therapeutics by 48.1% during the second quarter. Inspire Investing LLC now owns 6,481 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $344,000 after buying an additional 2,105 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Hollencrest Capital Management raised its holdings in shares of Viking Therapeutics by 68.5% in the second quarter. Hollencrest Capital Management now owns 2,459 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $130,000 after acquiring an additional 1,000 shares during the last quarter. 76.03% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Viking Therapeutics Stock Performance

NASDAQ VKTX opened at $32.65 on Friday. Viking Therapeutics, Inc. has a one year low of $20.47 and a one year high of $99.41. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $46.21 and a 200-day simple moving average of $55.99. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.64 billion, a PE ratio of -35.11 and a beta of 0.95.

Viking Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VKTX) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The biotechnology company reported ($0.22) EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.24) by $0.02. During the same period last year, the company earned ($0.23) earnings per share. Equities analysts forecast that Viking Therapeutics, Inc. will post -0.97 earnings per share for the current year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages recently weighed in on VKTX. William Blair reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a research note on Wednesday, November 20th. B. Riley began coverage on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a research report on Friday, November 22nd. They issued a “buy” rating and a $109.00 price objective for the company. Oppenheimer restated an “outperform” rating and set a $138.00 target price on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a research report on Wednesday, September 25th. Piper Sandler started coverage on Viking Therapeutics in a research report on Monday, December 2nd. They set an “overweight” rating and a $74.00 target price on the stock. Finally, HC Wainwright reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $102.00 price target on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a report on Friday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $106.75.

Insider Buying and Selling at Viking Therapeutics

In other news, CFO Greg Zante sold 50,309 shares of Viking Therapeutics stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 6th. The stock was 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 owns 165,259 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,064,822.25. The trade was a 23.34 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO Brian Lian sold 194,490 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 owns 2,366,570 shares of the company’s stock, 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. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 443,701 shares of company stock worth $23,898,520. 4.70% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.