Private Advisor Group LLC Grows Position in Viking Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VKTX)

Private Advisor Group LLC grew its stake in Viking Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VKTX) by 66.4% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 9,086 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock after acquiring an additional 3,625 shares during the quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC’s holdings in Viking Therapeutics were worth $575,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Avoro Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Viking Therapeutics in the 1st quarter valued at about $294,380,000. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Viking Therapeutics by 44.7% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 7,785,724 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $638,429,000 after buying an additional 2,403,820 shares during the last quarter. Hood River Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Viking Therapeutics during the first quarter valued at approximately $55,098,000. Westfield Capital Management Co. LP acquired a new stake in Viking Therapeutics during the first quarter worth approximately $54,295,000. Finally, Clearbridge Investments LLC acquired a new stake in Viking Therapeutics during the first quarter worth approximately $48,970,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.03% of the company’s stock.

Viking Therapeutics Stock Up 0.5 %

Viking Therapeutics stock opened at $72.88 on Monday. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $64.44 and a 200-day moving average of $61.81. Viking Therapeutics, Inc. has a 52-week low of $9.34 and a 52-week high of $99.41. The firm has a market capitalization of $8.12 billion, a P/E ratio of -78.36 and a beta of 1.00.

Viking Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VKTX) last announced its quarterly 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 last year, the company earned ($0.23) earnings per share. On average, research analysts expect that Viking Therapeutics, Inc. will post -0.98 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In related news, CFO Greg Zante sold 131,687 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, October 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $76.61, for a total transaction of $10,088,541.07. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 149,366 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,442,929.26. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other news, Director Sarah Kathryn Rouan sold 11,000 shares of the firm’s 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 sale, the director now directly owns 9,500 shares in the company, valued at $768,455. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CFO Greg Zante sold 131,687 shares of the business’s 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 in the company, valued at approximately $11,442,929.26. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 525,473 shares of company stock worth $37,088,158. 4.70% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

VKTX has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Raymond James increased their price target on Viking Therapeutics from $116.00 to $118.00 and gave the stock a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 25th. Morgan Stanley reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $105.00 target price on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a research report on Thursday, September 12th. StockNews.com upgraded Viking Therapeutics to a “sell” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 15th. HC Wainwright reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $90.00 price objective on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a report on Thursday, October 24th. Finally, Oppenheimer restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $138.00 target price on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a report on Wednesday, September 25th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $108.60.

Viking Therapeutics Company 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.