Beacon Pointe Advisors LLC Cuts Stock Position in Viking Therapeutics, Inc. $VKTX

Beacon Pointe Advisors LLC decreased its position in shares of Viking Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VKTX) by 40.1% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 19,799 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock after selling 13,280 shares during the period. Beacon Pointe Advisors LLC’s holdings in Viking Therapeutics were worth $525,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Allworth Financial LP increased its stake in Viking Therapeutics by 58.4% during the second quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 955 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $25,000 after purchasing an additional 352 shares during the period. Glass Jacobson Investment Advisors llc acquired a new position in shares of Viking Therapeutics in the second quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Elevation Point Wealth Partners LLC purchased a new stake in Viking Therapeutics during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $29,000. Quarry LP lifted its holdings in Viking Therapeutics by 1,621.4% during the 1st quarter. Quarry LP now owns 1,205 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $29,000 after buying an additional 1,135 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Parallel Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Viking Therapeutics by 33.4% during the 2nd quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 1,818 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $48,000 after buying an additional 455 shares in the last quarter. 76.03% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Transactions at Viking Therapeutics

In other news, Director Charles A. Rowland, Jr. sold 60,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, October 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $35.57, for a total transaction of $2,134,200.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 30,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,067,100. This trade represents a 66.67% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, COO Marianna Mancini sold 6,185 shares of Viking Therapeutics stock in a transaction on Tuesday, October 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $35.00, for a total transaction of $216,475.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer directly owned 382,467 shares in the company, valued at $13,386,345. The trade was a 1.59% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold a total of 111,359 shares of company stock valued at $3,932,155 over the last ninety days. 4.10% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Viking Therapeutics Stock Performance

VKTX opened at $38.55 on Monday. Viking Therapeutics, Inc. has a one year low of $18.92 and a one year high of $51.92. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.36 billion, a P/E ratio of -18.18 and a beta of 0.65. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $34.81 and its 200-day simple moving average is $31.06.

Viking Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VKTX) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, October 22nd. The biotechnology company reported ($0.81) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.67) by ($0.14). Viking Therapeutics’s revenue for the quarter was up .0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned ($0.22) earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Viking Therapeutics, Inc. will post -1.56 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

VKTX has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. HC Wainwright reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $102.00 price objective on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a research report on Monday, September 29th. Canaccord Genuity Group boosted their price target on shares of Viking Therapeutics from $106.00 to $107.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 12th. Cantor Fitzgerald set a $105.00 price objective on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a report on Thursday, October 23rd. B. Riley raised shares of Viking Therapeutics to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 23rd. Finally, Weiss Ratings reiterated a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have issued a Buy rating, three have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $87.14.

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.