Headlands Technologies LLC Sells 28,982 Shares of Viking Therapeutics, Inc. $VKTX

Headlands Technologies LLC lowered its stake in Viking Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VKTX) by 59.0% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 20,164 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock after selling 28,982 shares during the period. Headlands Technologies LLC’s holdings in Viking Therapeutics were worth $787,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in VKTX. BlackRock Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Viking Therapeutics in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $241,458,000. Ameriprise Financial Inc. increased its position in shares of Viking Therapeutics by 41.8% during the 3rd quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 2,092,840 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $55,000,000 after purchasing an additional 616,526 shares during the last quarter. Two Sigma Investments LP raised its holdings in Viking Therapeutics by 58.7% during the 3rd quarter. Two Sigma Investments LP now owns 2,085,487 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $54,807,000 after buying an additional 771,704 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in Viking Therapeutics by 24.0% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,994,509 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $70,183,000 after buying an additional 385,903 shares during the period. Finally, BNP Paribas Financial Markets lifted its position in Viking Therapeutics by 536.3% in the fourth quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 992,695 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $34,923,000 after buying an additional 836,686 shares during the last quarter. 76.03% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have weighed in on VKTX shares. Lake Street Capital initiated coverage on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a research report on Thursday, May 28th. They set a “buy” rating and a $89.00 price objective on the stock. Canaccord Genuity Group lifted their price target on shares of Viking Therapeutics from $107.00 to $114.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 30th. Truist Financial began coverage on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a report on Wednesday, May 27th. They set a “buy” rating and a $83.00 price target on the stock. Weiss Ratings reissued a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a research report on Friday, July 17th. Finally, Zacks Research raised shares of Viking Therapeutics from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 18th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have issued a Buy rating, two have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $96.62.

Insider Activity at Viking Therapeutics

In other Viking Therapeutics news, COO Marianna Mancini sold 18,217 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $33.47, for a total value of $609,722.99. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer directly owned 422,760 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $14,149,777.20. The trade was a 4.13% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Also, CEO Brian Lian sold 148,517 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $33.32, for a total transaction of $4,948,586.44. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 2,572,441 shares in the company, valued at $85,713,734.12. This represents a 5.46% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Insiders sold 187,951 shares of company stock worth $6,268,442 in the last 90 days. 5.30% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Viking Therapeutics Stock Up 2.7%

Shares of Viking Therapeutics stock opened at $33.67 on Wednesday. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $35.63 and its two-hundred day moving average is $33.39. Viking Therapeutics, Inc. has a 52 week low of $22.96 and a 52 week high of $43.15. The company has a market capitalization of $3.93 billion, a PE ratio of -7.23 and a beta of 0.69.

Viking Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VKTX) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, July 29th. The biotechnology company reported ($1.10) earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($1.21) by $0.11. Viking Therapeutics’s revenue for the quarter was up .0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned ($0.58) EPS. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Viking Therapeutics, Inc. will post -4.47 earnings per share for the current year.

About Viking Therapeutics

Viking Therapeutics, Inc is a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company focused on the development of novel therapies for metabolic and endocrine disorders. Headquartered in San Diego, California, the company’s pipeline leverages small-molecule approaches to target hormone signaling pathways implicated in conditions such as non‐alcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH), dyslipidemia, type 2 diabetes and muscle wasting disorders.

The company’s lead programs include VK2809, a thyroid hormone receptor‐beta agonist designed to reduce liver fat and improve lipid profiles in patients with NASH and dyslipidemia, and VK5211, a selective androgen receptor modulator (SARM) aimed at enhancing muscle mass and function in individuals with muscle wasting conditions.