Los Angeles Capital Management LLC Has $693,000 Stock Holdings in Viking Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VKTX)

Los Angeles Capital Management LLC trimmed its holdings in shares of Viking Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VKTX) by 10.8% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 10,948 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock after selling 1,330 shares during the period. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Viking Therapeutics were worth $693,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Blue Trust Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Viking Therapeutics during the 3rd quarter worth about $26,000. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Viking Therapeutics in the second quarter valued at approximately $27,000. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its stake in shares of Viking Therapeutics by 124.6% during the third quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 438 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $28,000 after purchasing an additional 243 shares during the period. Gilliland Jeter Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in Viking Therapeutics during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $32,000. Finally, Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV boosted its stake in Viking Therapeutics by 84.3% in the 3rd quarter. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV now owns 553 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $35,000 after purchasing an additional 253 shares during the period. 76.03% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

VKTX has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Viking Therapeutics to a “sell” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 15th. Oppenheimer reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $138.00 price target on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a research report on Wednesday, September 25th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. began coverage on Viking Therapeutics in a report on Wednesday, September 11th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $80.00 price objective for the company. Morgan Stanley reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $105.00 target price on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a report on Thursday, September 12th. Finally, HC Wainwright boosted their price target on Viking Therapeutics from $90.00 to $102.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, November 4th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $109.80.

Viking Therapeutics Trading Down 7.4 %

Shares of VKTX opened at $49.58 on Friday. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $64.60 and a 200 day moving average of $61.42. The company has a market capitalization of $5.53 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -53.31 and a beta of 1.00. Viking Therapeutics, Inc. has a 12 month low of $10.34 and a 12 month high of $99.41.

Viking Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VKTX) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The biotechnology company reported ($0.22) earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.24) by $0.02. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned ($0.23) earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Viking Therapeutics, Inc. will post -0.98 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Viking Therapeutics

In other Viking Therapeutics news, CEO Brian Lian sold 1,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $69.90, for a total value of $69,900.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 2,354,927 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $164,609,397.30. This trade represents a 0.04 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, Director Lawson Macartney sold 2,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $68.67, for a total value of $137,340.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 47,965 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,293,756.55. The trade was a 4.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 506,687 shares of company stock worth $36,029,679. 4.70% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

About Viking Therapeutics

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.