Bellevue Group AG Has $443,000 Stock Holdings in Viking Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VKTX)

Bellevue Group AG reduced its stake in Viking Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VKTX) by 69.1% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 5,400 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock after selling 12,100 shares during the period. Bellevue Group AG’s holdings in Viking Therapeutics were worth $443,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in VKTX. Avoro Capital Advisors LLC bought a new position in Viking Therapeutics during the first quarter worth about $294,380,000. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in Viking Therapeutics by 44.7% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 7,785,724 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $638,429,000 after acquiring an additional 2,403,820 shares during the last quarter. Perpetual Ltd acquired a new position in Viking Therapeutics during the first quarter valued at approximately $78,586,000. Hood River Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in Viking Therapeutics in the first quarter valued at approximately $55,098,000. Finally, Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA bought a new position in shares of Viking Therapeutics during the fourth quarter worth $12,341,000. 76.03% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Viking Therapeutics Price Performance

Viking Therapeutics stock traded down $4.55 during mid-day trading on Monday, hitting $61.43. 3,672,399 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 4,842,639. Viking Therapeutics, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $8.28 and a fifty-two week high of $99.41. The stock has a market cap of $6.81 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -66.49 and a beta of 1.03. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $55.72 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $56.70.

Viking Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VKTX) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 24th. The biotechnology company reported ($0.20) EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.26) by $0.06. During the same quarter last year, the business posted ($0.19) earnings per share. On average, research analysts anticipate that Viking Therapeutics, Inc. will post -1.01 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

VKTX has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Raymond James lifted their target price on Viking Therapeutics from $116.00 to $118.00 and gave the stock a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday. Truist Financial reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $120.00 price objective on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a report on Monday, June 17th. HC Wainwright restated a “buy” rating and issued a $90.00 target price on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a research note on Thursday. Morgan Stanley assumed coverage on Viking Therapeutics in a research report on Thursday, June 27th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $105.00 price target for the company. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded shares of Viking Therapeutics to a “sell” rating in a research note on Thursday, June 27th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $111.78.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Viking Therapeutics news, COO Marianna Mancini sold 281,425 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $78.66, for a total transaction of $22,136,890.50. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 348,508 shares in the company, valued at approximately $27,413,639.28. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In other news, COO Marianna Mancini sold 281,425 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $78.66, for a total transaction of $22,136,890.50. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 348,508 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $27,413,639.28. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CFO Greg Zante sold 66,756 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $74.69, for a total value of $4,986,005.64. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 174,854 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $13,059,845.26. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 4.70% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Viking Therapeutics 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.