Vinva Investment Management Ltd Makes New Investment in Viking Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VKTX)

Vinva Investment Management Ltd bought a new position in shares of Viking Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VKTX) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund bought 4,827 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock, valued at approximately $194,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Blue Trust Inc. boosted its position in shares of Viking Therapeutics by 75.9% during the 4th quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 716 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $29,000 after acquiring an additional 309 shares during the last quarter. Stone House Investment Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Viking Therapeutics by 66.7% during the 3rd quarter. Stone House Investment Management LLC now owns 500 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $32,000 after acquiring an additional 200 shares during the last quarter. YANKCOM Partnership acquired a new position in shares of Viking Therapeutics during the 4th quarter valued at about $33,000. S.A. Mason LLC boosted its position in shares of Viking Therapeutics by 20.0% during the 4th quarter. S.A. Mason LLC now owns 1,800 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $72,000 after acquiring an additional 300 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Wolff Wiese Magana LLC acquired a new position in shares of Viking Therapeutics during the 4th quarter valued at about $75,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.03% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Viking Therapeutics news, COO Marianna Mancini sold 54,215 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, January 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $42.75, for a total value of $2,317,691.25. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 374,134 shares in the company, valued at approximately $15,994,228.50. This represents a 12.66 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CFO Greg Zante sold 50,309 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, January 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $42.75, for a total value of $2,150,709.75. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 165,259 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,064,822.25. The trade was a 23.34 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 299,014 shares of company stock worth $12,782,849. 4.70% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts recently issued reports on VKTX shares. Citigroup started coverage on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a report on Friday, February 7th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $38.00 price objective on the stock. HC Wainwright restated a “buy” rating and issued a $102.00 price objective on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a report on Tuesday, March 11th. Piper Sandler reduced their price objective on shares of Viking Therapeutics from $74.00 to $71.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, February 6th. B. Riley restated a “buy” rating and issued a $96.00 price objective (down from $109.00) on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a report on Friday, February 7th. Finally, Maxim Group reduced 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 analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has issued a hold rating, eleven have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $97.67.

Viking Therapeutics Price Performance

Viking Therapeutics stock opened at $28.95 on Friday. Viking Therapeutics, Inc. has a 12 month low of $24.41 and a 12 month high of $89.10. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $31.04 and a 200-day simple moving average of $47.66. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.25 billion, a PE ratio of -28.95 and a beta of 0.90.

Viking Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VKTX) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 5th. The biotechnology company reported ($0.32) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.27) by ($0.05). During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted ($0.25) earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Viking Therapeutics, Inc. will post -1.56 EPS for the current year.

About Viking Therapeutics

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.