Viking Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VKTX) Shares Acquired by GAMMA Investing LLC

GAMMA Investing LLC increased its position in shares of Viking Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VKTX) by 9,209.9% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 24,392 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock after acquiring an additional 24,130 shares during the quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC’s holdings in Viking Therapeutics were worth $589,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Virtu Financial LLC acquired a new stake in Viking Therapeutics during the fourth quarter worth approximately $1,715,000. Van ECK Associates Corp boosted its position in Viking Therapeutics by 58.0% during the fourth quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 14,911 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $600,000 after acquiring an additional 5,475 shares during the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. boosted its position in Viking Therapeutics by 363.1% during the fourth quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 1,885 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $76,000 after acquiring an additional 1,478 shares during the last quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. acquired a new stake in Viking Therapeutics during the fourth quarter worth approximately $429,000. Finally, LPL Financial LLC boosted its position in Viking Therapeutics by 18.2% during the fourth quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 96,702 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $3,891,000 after acquiring an additional 14,873 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.03% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Sarah Kathryn Rouan purchased 1,240 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 31st. The shares were purchased at an average price of $24.15 per share, with a total value of $29,946.00. Following the purchase, the director now directly owns 1,240 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $29,946. This represents a ∞ increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. 4.10% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on the stock. HC Wainwright reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $102.00 price target on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a research note on Thursday, April 24th. Cantor Fitzgerald raised shares of Viking Therapeutics to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 29th. Truist Financial reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $75.00 price target (down previously from $95.00) on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a research note on Monday, April 28th. The Goldman Sachs Group assumed coverage on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a research note on Tuesday, April 8th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $30.00 price target on the stock. Finally, Morgan Stanley cut their price target on shares of Viking Therapeutics from $105.00 to $102.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 24th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating, ten have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Viking Therapeutics currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $87.15.

Viking Therapeutics Trading Down 0.6%

Shares of VKTX stock opened at $26.28 on Thursday. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $26.73 and its 200-day simple moving average is $31.61. Viking Therapeutics, Inc. has a 52 week low of $18.92 and a 52 week high of $81.73. The company has a market cap of $2.95 billion, a PE ratio of -22.85 and a beta of 0.65.

Viking Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VKTX) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 23rd. The biotechnology company reported ($0.41) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.31) by ($0.10). During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned ($0.26) EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up .0% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts expect that Viking Therapeutics, Inc. will post -1.56 EPS for the current fiscal 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.