Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. Sells 9,969 Shares of Viking Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VKTX)

Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. reduced its holdings in shares of Viking Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VKTX) by 7.2% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 129,283 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock after selling 9,969 shares during the quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. owned 0.12% of Viking Therapeutics worth $5,202,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the business. Signaturefd LLC lifted its stake in Viking Therapeutics by 16.2% during the 3rd quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 1,351 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $86,000 after acquiring an additional 188 shares during the period. Stone House Investment Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Viking Therapeutics by 66.7% during the third quarter. Stone House Investment Management LLC now owns 500 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $32,000 after purchasing an additional 200 shares during the last quarter. Keudell Morrison Wealth Management lifted its position in Viking Therapeutics by 5.9% during the third quarter. Keudell Morrison Wealth Management now owns 4,306 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $273,000 after purchasing an additional 241 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its position in Viking Therapeutics by 124.6% in the 3rd 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. Finally, Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV raised its stake in Viking Therapeutics by 84.3% during the 3rd quarter. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV now owns 553 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $35,000 after buying an additional 253 shares during the last quarter. 76.03% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts recently commented on the company. StockNews.com raised Viking Therapeutics to a “sell” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 15th. B. Riley initiated coverage on Viking Therapeutics in a research note on Friday, November 22nd. They set a “buy” rating and a $109.00 price target for the company. Oppenheimer reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $138.00 price objective on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a research note on Wednesday, September 25th. Piper Sandler started coverage on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a research report on Monday, December 2nd. They set an “overweight” rating and a $74.00 target price for the company. Finally, HC Wainwright reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $102.00 price target on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a research report on Wednesday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $106.75.

Viking Therapeutics Stock Down 3.2 %

NASDAQ:VKTX opened at $39.31 on Friday. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $50.04 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $56.64. Viking Therapeutics, Inc. has a 52 week low of $20.28 and a 52 week high of $99.41. The stock has a market cap of $4.38 billion, a PE ratio of -42.27 and a beta of 0.95.

Viking Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VKTX) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The biotechnology company reported ($0.22) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.24) by $0.02. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted ($0.23) EPS. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Viking Therapeutics, Inc. will post -0.97 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other Viking Therapeutics news, CFO Greg Zante sold 131,687 shares of Viking Therapeutics stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, October 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $76.61, for a total value of $10,088,541.07. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 149,366 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $11,442,929.26. The trade was a 46.85 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Brian Lian sold 194,490 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $42.75, for a total value of $8,314,447.50. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 2,366,570 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $101,170,867.50. This represents a 7.59 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 443,701 shares of company stock worth $23,898,520 over the last quarter. Insiders own 4.70% of the company’s stock.

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.