Wells Fargo & Company MN Buys 69,355 Shares of Viking Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VKTX)

Wells Fargo & Company MN boosted its holdings in shares of Viking Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VKTX) by 36.1% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 261,635 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock after acquiring an additional 69,355 shares during the period. Wells Fargo & Company MN owned about 0.23% of Viking Therapeutics worth $10,528,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of VKTX. Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC acquired a new stake in Viking Therapeutics in the third quarter valued at approximately $492,000. MML Investors Services LLC grew its position in Viking Therapeutics by 193.1% during the third quarter. MML Investors Services LLC now owns 20,352 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $1,288,000 after buying an additional 13,409 shares during the period. M&T Bank Corp acquired a new position in Viking Therapeutics in the 3rd quarter worth about $354,000. Sanctuary Advisors LLC grew its stake in Viking Therapeutics by 51.3% in the 3rd quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC now owns 5,416 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $343,000 after acquiring an additional 1,836 shares during the period. Finally, World Investment Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Viking Therapeutics during the third quarter worth about $240,000. Institutional investors own 76.03% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Sarah Kathryn Rouan purchased 1,240 shares of Viking Therapeutics stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 31st. The stock was bought at an average cost of $24.15 per share, for a total transaction of $29,946.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 1,240 shares in the company, valued at approximately $29,946. The trade was a ∞ increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Insiders own 4.70% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on the stock. B. Riley restated a “buy” rating and set a $96.00 price target (down from $109.00) on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Scotiabank began coverage on Viking Therapeutics in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. They issued a “sector outperform” rating and a $102.00 price objective for the company. Piper Sandler reduced their price objective on Viking Therapeutics from $74.00 to $71.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. HC Wainwright restated a “buy” rating and issued a $102.00 price objective on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a report on Wednesday, March 26th. Finally, Maxim Group cut their price objective on shares of Viking Therapeutics from $120.00 to $70.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, February 7th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating, ten have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Viking Therapeutics presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $89.75.

Viking Therapeutics Stock Up 2.1 %

Shares of NASDAQ:VKTX opened at $23.60 on Thursday. Viking Therapeutics, Inc. has a 52 week low of $18.92 and a 52 week high of $81.86. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $27.19 and a 200 day moving average price of $42.54. The company has a market cap of $2.65 billion, a P/E ratio of -23.60 and a beta of 0.84.

Viking Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VKTX) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The biotechnology company reported ($0.32) EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.27) by ($0.05). During the same quarter last year, the business earned ($0.25) earnings per share. Analysts expect that Viking Therapeutics, Inc. will post -1.56 EPS for the current year.

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.