E Fund Management Co. Ltd. Sells 6,582 Shares of Viking Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VKTX)

E Fund Management Co. Ltd. decreased its holdings in Viking Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VKTX) by 22.9% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 22,195 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock after selling 6,582 shares during the period. E Fund Management Co. Ltd.’s holdings in Viking Therapeutics were worth $413,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in VKTX. Wetzel Investment Advisors Inc. bought a new position in shares of Viking Therapeutics during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $37,000. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC boosted its position in shares of Viking Therapeutics by 270.1% in the 3rd quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 11,048 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $122,000 after purchasing an additional 8,063 shares in the last quarter. 9258 Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Viking Therapeutics by 20.2% in the third quarter. 9258 Wealth Management LLC now owns 12,028 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $133,000 after buying an additional 2,023 shares during the last quarter. Corton Capital Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Viking Therapeutics in the third quarter worth $133,000. Finally, Aigen Investment Management LP acquired a new stake in shares of Viking Therapeutics in the third quarter worth $148,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.03% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts recently commented on the company. Truist Financial lifted their price objective on Viking Therapeutics from $32.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 29th. Jefferies Financial Group began coverage on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a research report on Thursday, March 7th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $110.00 price target for the company. Oppenheimer upped their target price on shares of Viking Therapeutics from $116.00 to $138.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 26th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Viking Therapeutics to a “sell” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 25th. Finally, BTIG Research upped their price objective on shares of Viking Therapeutics from $100.00 to $125.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 26th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Viking Therapeutics has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $112.25.

Viking Therapeutics Stock Performance

Shares of Viking Therapeutics stock traded up $0.29 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $80.20. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 2,391,932 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,348,038. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $73.59 and its 200 day simple moving average is $39.14. Viking Therapeutics, Inc. has a one year low of $8.28 and a one year high of $99.41. The stock has a market cap of $8.84 billion, a P/E ratio of -85.78 and a beta of 1.12.

Viking Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VKTX) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 24th. The biotechnology company reported ($0.26) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.27) by $0.01. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned ($0.25) earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Viking Therapeutics, Inc. will post -1.08 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Viking Therapeutics

In related news, CFO Greg Zante sold 66,756 shares of Viking Therapeutics stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 174,854 shares in the company, valued at approximately $13,059,845.26. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In related news, CFO Greg Zante sold 66,756 shares of Viking Therapeutics stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 174,854 shares in the company, valued at approximately $13,059,845.26. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, COO Marianna Mancini sold 281,425 shares of Viking Therapeutics stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 348,508 shares in the company, valued at $27,413,639.28. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 4.70% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Viking Therapeutics Company 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.