Franklin Resources Inc. Has $21.59 Million Position in Viking Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VKTX)

Franklin Resources Inc. reduced its holdings in shares of Viking Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VKTX) by 3.0% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 328,124 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock after selling 10,060 shares during the quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. owned approximately 0.29% of Viking Therapeutics worth $21,591,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in VKTX. Signaturefd LLC boosted its position in Viking Therapeutics by 16.2% during the third quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 1,351 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $86,000 after purchasing an additional 188 shares during the period. Stone House Investment Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Viking Therapeutics by 66.7% during the 3rd quarter. Stone House Investment Management LLC now owns 500 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $32,000 after purchasing an additional 200 shares in the last quarter. Keudell Morrison Wealth Management increased its position in shares of Viking Therapeutics by 5.9% in the third quarter. Keudell Morrison Wealth Management now owns 4,306 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $273,000 after purchasing an additional 241 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its position in shares of Viking Therapeutics by 124.6% in the third 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 lifted its position in Viking Therapeutics by 84.3% during the third quarter. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV now owns 553 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $35,000 after purchasing an additional 253 shares during the period. 76.03% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity at Viking Therapeutics

In other news, CFO Greg Zante sold 131,687 shares of Viking Therapeutics stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the transaction, 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 document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Sarah Kathryn Rouan sold 11,000 shares of Viking Therapeutics stock in a transaction dated Friday, October 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $80.89, for a total transaction of $889,790.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 9,500 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $768,455. This trade represents a 53.66 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 144,687 shares of company stock worth $11,115,671 over the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 4.70% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

VKTX has been the subject of several analyst reports. Oppenheimer restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $138.00 target price on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a research report on Wednesday, September 25th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Viking Therapeutics to a “sell” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 15th. HC Wainwright restated a “buy” rating and issued a $102.00 target price on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a research report on Wednesday. B. Riley began coverage on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a research note on Friday, November 22nd. They set a “buy” rating and a $109.00 target price on the stock. Finally, William Blair reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a research note on Wednesday, November 20th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $106.75.

Viking Therapeutics Price Performance

Viking Therapeutics stock opened at $41.49 on Friday. Viking Therapeutics, Inc. has a one year low of $17.23 and a one year high of $99.41. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.62 billion, a P/E ratio of -44.61 and a beta of 0.88. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $58.05 and a 200-day moving average price of $57.95.

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

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.