LJI Wealth Management LLC Has $1.17 Million Stock Position in Viking Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VKTX)

LJI Wealth Management LLC lessened its position in shares of Viking Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VKTX) by 39.1% in the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 18,400 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock after selling 11,800 shares during the quarter. LJI Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Viking Therapeutics were worth $1,165,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Avoro Capital Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Viking Therapeutics during the first quarter valued at $294,380,000. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Viking Therapeutics by 44.7% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 7,785,724 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $638,429,000 after purchasing an additional 2,403,820 shares in the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Viking Therapeutics by 10,775.6% during the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 1,004,033 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $63,565,000 after purchasing an additional 994,801 shares in the last quarter. Hood River Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in Viking Therapeutics during the first quarter worth approximately $55,098,000. Finally, Westfield Capital Management Co. LP bought a new stake in Viking Therapeutics in the first quarter worth approximately $54,295,000. Institutional investors own 76.03% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director J Matthew Singleton sold 16,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, August 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $62.22, for a total value of $995,520.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 9,500 shares in the company, valued at approximately $591,090. This trade represents a 62.75 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO Brian Lian sold 1,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $69.90, for a total value of $69,900.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2,354,927 shares in the company, valued at approximately $164,609,397.30. The trade was a 0.04 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 506,687 shares of company stock worth $36,029,679. 4.70% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Viking Therapeutics Stock Performance

Shares of VKTX traded down $3.99 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $49.58. The stock had a trading volume of 8,141,474 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,523,631. Viking Therapeutics, Inc. has a 52 week low of $10.34 and a 52 week high of $99.41. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $64.60 and a 200-day moving average price of $61.42.

Viking Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VKTX) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 23rd. The biotechnology company reported ($0.22) EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.24) by $0.02. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned ($0.23) EPS. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Viking Therapeutics, Inc. will post -0.98 EPS for the current year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

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

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.