Fred Alger Management LLC Sells 78,415 Shares of Viking Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VKTX)

Fred Alger Management LLC decreased its holdings in shares of Viking Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VKTX) by 13.8% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 488,869 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock after selling 78,415 shares during the quarter. Fred Alger Management LLC owned about 0.44% of Viking Therapeutics worth $30,950,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in VKTX. Braidwell LP lifted its holdings in shares of Viking Therapeutics by 4.5% during the third quarter. Braidwell LP now owns 1,156,977 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $73,248,000 after buying an additional 50,072 shares during the last quarter. Eventide Asset Management LLC increased its position in Viking Therapeutics by 79.1% during the third quarter. Eventide Asset Management LLC now owns 452,969 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $28,677,000 after acquiring an additional 200,000 shares during the period. Verition Fund Management LLC raised its stake in Viking Therapeutics by 80.6% during the 3rd quarter. Verition Fund Management LLC now owns 7,721 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $489,000 after purchasing an additional 3,446 shares during the last quarter. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. boosted its holdings in Viking Therapeutics by 109.1% in 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 purchasing an additional 17,754 shares during the period. Finally, Financial Counselors Inc. acquired a new stake in Viking Therapeutics in the 3rd quarter worth $2,911,000. Institutional investors own 76.03% of the company’s stock.

Viking Therapeutics Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:VKTX opened at $52.94 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $5.90 billion, a PE ratio of -56.92 and a beta of 1.00. The company’s fifty day moving average is $62.77 and its 200-day moving average is $59.83. Viking Therapeutics, Inc. has a 52 week low of $11.82 and a 52 week high of $99.41.

Viking Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VKTX) last released its quarterly 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 quarter last year, the business earned ($0.23) earnings per share. On average, analysts forecast that Viking Therapeutics, Inc. will post -0.98 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Sarah Kathryn Rouan sold 11,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, October 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $80.89, for a total transaction of $889,790.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 9,500 shares in the company, valued at $768,455. This represents a 53.66 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CFO Greg Zante sold 131,687 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, October 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $76.61, for a total transaction of $10,088,541.07. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 149,366 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,442,929.26. This represents a 46.85 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 371,117 shares of company stock worth $27,140,009 in the last three months. Insiders own 4.70% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have recently commented on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. started coverage on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a research report on Wednesday, September 11th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $80.00 price objective for the company. StockNews.com upgraded Viking Therapeutics to a “sell” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 15th. Morgan Stanley reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $105.00 price objective on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a research report on Thursday, September 12th. Oppenheimer restated an “outperform” rating and set a $138.00 price objective on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a research report on Wednesday, September 25th. Finally, B. Riley began coverage on Viking Therapeutics in a research report on Friday, November 22nd. They issued a “buy” rating and a $109.00 target price for the company. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $109.73.

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.