Viking Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VKTX) Shares Acquired by Activest Wealth Management

Activest Wealth Management boosted its stake in Viking Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VKTX) by 24.1% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 2,165 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock after buying an additional 420 shares during the quarter. Activest Wealth Management’s holdings in Viking Therapeutics were worth $87,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in VKTX. International Assets Investment Management LLC grew its stake in Viking Therapeutics by 10,775.6% during the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 1,004,033 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $63,565,000 after acquiring an additional 994,801 shares in the last quarter. Fiera Capital Corp purchased a new position in Viking Therapeutics during the third quarter worth approximately $18,443,000. Eventide Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in Viking Therapeutics by 79.1% during the third quarter. Eventide Asset Management LLC now owns 452,969 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $28,677,000 after buying an additional 200,000 shares during the last quarter. Nepsis Inc. purchased a new stake in Viking Therapeutics in the 3rd quarter valued at $11,251,000. Finally, Westfield Capital Management Co. LP increased its stake in shares of Viking Therapeutics by 18.3% in the 3rd quarter. Westfield Capital Management Co. LP now owns 930,370 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $58,902,000 after acquiring an additional 143,675 shares during the last quarter. 76.03% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Viking Therapeutics Stock Performance

Shares of VKTX stock opened at $32.56 on Monday. Viking Therapeutics, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $25.34 and a fifty-two week high of $99.41. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $40.05 and a 200 day moving average price of $53.92.

Viking Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VKTX) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 5th. The biotechnology company reported ($0.32) earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.27) by ($0.05). During the same period last year, the firm earned ($0.25) earnings per share. On average, equities analysts predict that Viking Therapeutics, Inc. will post -1.41 earnings per share for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Viking Therapeutics news, CEO Brian Lian sold 194,490 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $42.75, for a total value of $8,314,447.50. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2,366,570 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $101,170,867.50. This represents a 7.59 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CFO Greg Zante sold 50,309 shares of Viking Therapeutics stock in a transaction on Monday, January 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $42.75, for a total transaction of $2,150,709.75. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 165,259 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,064,822.25. This trade represents a 23.34 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 299,014 shares of company stock worth $12,782,849 in the last quarter. 4.70% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on VKTX shares. Citigroup began coverage on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a research report on Friday. They set a “neutral” rating and a $38.00 price target on the stock. StockNews.com raised shares of Viking Therapeutics to a “sell” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 15th. William Blair reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a research report on Wednesday, November 20th. B. Riley reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $96.00 price objective (down from $109.00) on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a research report on Friday. Finally, Maxim Group reduced their target price on Viking Therapeutics from $120.00 to $70.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has issued a hold rating, twelve have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Viking Therapeutics presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $96.92.

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.