Axa S.A. Takes Position in Viking Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VKTX)

Axa S.A. acquired a new stake in Viking Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VKTX) in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund acquired 53,484 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,835,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Fred Alger Management LLC boosted its holdings in Viking Therapeutics by 21.4% in the second quarter. Fred Alger Management LLC now owns 567,284 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $30,072,000 after acquiring an additional 100,068 shares during the last quarter. Apis Capital Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Viking Therapeutics by 42.9% in the second quarter. Apis Capital Advisors LLC now owns 100,000 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $5,301,000 after acquiring an additional 30,000 shares in the last quarter. Xponance Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Viking Therapeutics by 119.6% in the second quarter. Xponance Inc. now owns 13,649 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $724,000 after acquiring an additional 7,435 shares in the last quarter. Hood River Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in Viking Therapeutics by 6.3% in the second quarter. Hood River Capital Management LLC now owns 714,578 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $37,880,000 after buying an additional 42,650 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Discovery Capital Management LLC CT bought a new stake in Viking Therapeutics in the second quarter valued at about $7,787,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.03% of the company’s stock.

Viking Therapeutics Trading Down 1.1 %

NASDAQ VKTX opened at $61.63 on Monday. Viking Therapeutics, Inc. has a 1-year low of $8.28 and a 1-year high of $99.41. The company has a market capitalization of $6.80 billion, a PE ratio of -66.27 and a beta of 1.00. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $60.02 and its 200-day simple moving average is $62.77.

Viking Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VKTX) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, July 24th. The biotechnology company reported ($0.20) EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.26) by $0.06. During the same quarter last year, the company earned ($0.19) EPS. As a group, analysts predict that Viking Therapeutics, Inc. will post -1 EPS for the current year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

VKTX has been the subject of several recent research reports. Truist Financial reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $120.00 target price on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a report on Monday, June 17th. Maxim Group restated a “buy” rating and issued a $120.00 target price on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a research report on Tuesday, June 4th. StockNews.com upgraded Viking Therapeutics to a “sell” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 24th. Oppenheimer reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $138.00 price objective on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a research report on Wednesday, September 25th. Finally, Morgan Stanley reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $105.00 price objective on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a research report on Thursday, September 12th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Viking Therapeutics presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $108.60.

Insider Activity at Viking Therapeutics

In other Viking Therapeutics news, CEO Brian Lian sold 216,130 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $70.83, for a total transaction of $15,308,487.90. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 2,304,927 shares in the company, valued at $163,257,979.41. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other news, CEO Brian Lian sold 216,130 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, September 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $70.83, for a total value of $15,308,487.90. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2,304,927 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $163,257,979.41. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director J Matthew Singleton sold 5,700 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $69.72, for a total value of $397,404.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 9,500 shares in the company, valued at $662,340. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 516,671 shares of company stock worth $33,810,813. Company 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.