Dana Investment Advisors Inc. Decreases Holdings in Viking Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VKTX)

Dana Investment Advisors Inc. trimmed its holdings in shares of Viking Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VKTX) by 15.7% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 16,751 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock after selling 3,109 shares during the period. Dana Investment Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Viking Therapeutics were worth $674,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of VKTX. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Viking Therapeutics by 29.9% during the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 593,528 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $37,576,000 after buying an additional 136,729 shares during the last quarter. Fiera Capital Corp purchased a new stake in Viking Therapeutics during the 3rd quarter worth about $18,443,000. Cahill Wealth Management LLC lifted its holdings in Viking Therapeutics by 9.5% during the 3rd quarter. Cahill Wealth Management LLC now owns 13,780 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $872,000 after buying an additional 1,196 shares during the last quarter. Assetmark Inc. lifted its holdings in Viking Therapeutics by 712.5% during the 3rd quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 10,489 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $664,000 after buying an additional 9,198 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Sigma Planning Corp purchased a new stake in shares of Viking Therapeutics in the 3rd quarter valued at about $957,000. 76.03% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Viking Therapeutics Stock Up 1.5 %

Shares of Viking Therapeutics stock opened at $29.10 on Friday. Viking Therapeutics, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $24.41 and a fifty-two week high of $89.10. The firm has a market cap of $3.27 billion, a PE ratio of -29.10 and a beta of 0.90. The business’s fifty day moving average is $33.39 and its two-hundred day moving average is $49.96.

Viking Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VKTX) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The biotechnology company reported ($0.32) earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.27) by ($0.05). During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned ($0.25) earnings per share. Equities research analysts anticipate that Viking Therapeutics, Inc. will post -1.56 EPS for the current year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Piper Sandler reduced their target price on Viking Therapeutics from $74.00 to $71.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, February 6th. HC Wainwright reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $102.00 target price on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a report on Thursday, February 6th. 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. William Blair reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a report on Wednesday, November 20th. Finally, B. Riley reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $96.00 target price (down from $109.00) on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a report on Friday, February 7th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has given a hold rating, twelve have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $96.31.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CFO Greg Zante sold 50,309 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, January 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $42.75, for a total value of $2,150,709.75. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 165,259 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,064,822.25. This trade represents a 23.34 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, COO Marianna Mancini sold 54,215 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 in the company, valued at $15,994,228.50. This trade represents a 12.66 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 299,014 shares of company stock valued at $12,782,849. 4.70% of the stock is currently 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.