Rhenman & Partners Asset Management AB Reduces Stake in Viking Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VKTX)

Rhenman & Partners Asset Management AB lessened its holdings in shares of Viking Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VKTX) by 12.2% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 90,000 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock after selling 12,500 shares during the period. Rhenman & Partners Asset Management AB’s holdings in Viking Therapeutics were worth $3,622,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in VKTX. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in Viking Therapeutics by 0.9% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,880,713 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $75,704,000 after purchasing an additional 17,046 shares in the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA raised its stake in Viking Therapeutics by 446.7% during the 4th quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 1,357,241 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $54,615,000 after acquiring an additional 1,108,972 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Viking Therapeutics in the fourth quarter valued at $51,464,000. Alliancebernstein L.P. boosted its stake in Viking Therapeutics by 7.9% in the fourth quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 1,115,068 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $44,870,000 after acquiring an additional 81,183 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Viking Therapeutics by 1.8% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 728,652 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $29,321,000 after purchasing an additional 13,055 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.03% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

VKTX has been the subject of several research reports. Raymond James boosted their target price on Viking Therapeutics from $122.00 to $125.00 and gave the company a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, February 6th. B. Riley reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $96.00 price objective (down previously from $109.00) on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a research note on Friday, February 7th. HC Wainwright reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $102.00 target price on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a report on Wednesday, March 26th. Citigroup initiated coverage on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a research note on Friday, February 7th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $38.00 price target for the company. Finally, Maxim Group dropped their price objective on shares of Viking Therapeutics from $120.00 to $70.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, February 7th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has assigned a hold rating, ten have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $95.18.

Viking Therapeutics Stock Down 6.6 %

Shares of NASDAQ:VKTX opened at $22.62 on Friday. Viking Therapeutics, Inc. has a 52 week low of $21.53 and a 52 week high of $81.86. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $29.32 and a 200 day moving average price of $45.32. The company has a market cap of $2.54 billion, a P/E ratio of -22.62 and a beta of 0.84.

Viking Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VKTX) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The biotechnology company reported ($0.32) EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.27) by ($0.05). During the same quarter last year, the business earned ($0.25) earnings per share. Analysts expect that Viking Therapeutics, Inc. will post -1.56 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Viking Therapeutics

In related news, COO Marianna Mancini sold 54,215 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 6th. The stock was 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $15,994,228.50. This trade represents a 12.66 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Sarah Kathryn Rouan bought 1,240 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 31st. The shares were purchased at an average price of $24.15 per share, for a total transaction of $29,946.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 1,240 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $29,946. This represents a ∞ increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 299,014 shares of company stock valued at $12,782,849. 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.