Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken AB publ Decreases Holdings in Viking Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VKTX)

Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken AB publ lowered its stake in Viking Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VKTX) by 27.0% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 20,746 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock after selling 7,672 shares during the period. Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken AB publ’s holdings in Viking Therapeutics were worth $824,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in VKTX. GSA Capital Partners LLP boosted its holdings in shares of Viking Therapeutics by 64.6% in the 3rd quarter. GSA Capital Partners LLP now owns 8,160 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $517,000 after purchasing an additional 3,202 shares during the period. Prime Capital Investment Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Viking Therapeutics during the third quarter worth $235,000. KBC Group NV increased its position in Viking Therapeutics by 18.7% during the third quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 2,997 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $190,000 after acquiring an additional 473 shares during the last quarter. OneDigital Investment Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Viking Therapeutics in the third quarter valued at $206,000. Finally, Royce & Associates LP purchased a new stake in shares of Viking Therapeutics in the third quarter valued at $844,000. 76.03% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Viking Therapeutics news, COO Marianna Mancini sold 54,215 shares of the business’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 $2,317,691.25. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 374,134 shares in the company, valued at approximately $15,994,228.50. The trade was a 12.66 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CFO Greg Zante sold 50,309 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, January 6th. The shares were 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 directly 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 299,014 shares of company stock worth $12,782,849 over the last 90 days. Company insiders own 4.70% of the company’s stock.

Viking Therapeutics Price Performance

NASDAQ:VKTX opened at $29.83 on Tuesday. Viking Therapeutics, Inc. has a 1-year low of $24.41 and a 1-year high of $89.10. The company has a 50-day moving average of $31.94 and a 200 day moving average of $48.41. The firm has a market cap of $3.35 billion, a PE ratio of -29.83 and a beta of 0.90.

Viking Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VKTX) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The biotechnology company reported ($0.32) earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.27) by ($0.05). During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned ($0.25) EPS. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Viking Therapeutics, Inc. will post -1.56 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts recently commented on the stock. HC Wainwright reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $102.00 price target on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a report on Tuesday, March 11th. B. Riley reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $96.00 target price (down previously from $109.00) on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a research note on Friday, February 7th. Piper Sandler decreased their price target on Viking Therapeutics from $74.00 to $71.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. William Blair restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a report on Wednesday, November 20th. Finally, Citigroup assumed coverage on Viking Therapeutics in a research note on Friday, February 7th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $38.00 target price on the stock. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has issued a hold rating, eleven have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $97.67.

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.