ClariVest Asset Management LLC Has $1.70 Million Position in Viking Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VKTX)

ClariVest Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Viking Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VKTX) by 241.6% in the second quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 32,012 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock after buying an additional 22,642 shares during the quarter. ClariVest Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Viking Therapeutics were worth $1,697,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in VKTX. Lindbrook Capital LLC boosted its position in shares of Viking Therapeutics by 370.7% in the 1st quarter. Lindbrook Capital LLC now owns 353 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 278 shares during the last quarter. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV acquired a new position in shares of Viking Therapeutics during the 1st quarter worth about $25,000. 9258 Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Viking Therapeutics by 2.9% in the 1st quarter. 9258 Wealth Management LLC now owns 12,379 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $1,015,000 after acquiring an additional 351 shares during the last quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Viking Therapeutics by 3.1% in the 2nd quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC now owns 12,278 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $651,000 after acquiring an additional 372 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. raised its position in shares of Viking Therapeutics by 5.5% in the 2nd quarter. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. now owns 7,457 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $395,000 after acquiring an additional 386 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 76.03% of the company’s stock.

Viking Therapeutics Stock Up 11.3 %

NASDAQ:VKTX opened at $60.83 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $6.74 billion, a P/E ratio of -65.41 and a beta of 1.00. Viking Therapeutics, Inc. has a twelve month low of $8.28 and a twelve month high of $99.41. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $57.44 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $63.89.

Viking Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VKTX) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, July 24th. The biotechnology company reported ($0.20) EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.26) by $0.06. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted ($0.19) EPS. As a group, analysts anticipate that Viking Therapeutics, Inc. will post -0.99 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Viking Therapeutics

In related news, Director J Matthew Singleton sold 20,786 shares of Viking Therapeutics stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $57.53, for a total value of $1,195,818.58. Following the sale, the director now owns 9,500 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $546,535. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In other Viking Therapeutics news, Director J Matthew Singleton sold 20,786 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $57.53, for a total transaction of $1,195,818.58. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 9,500 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $546,535. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Brian Lian sold 1,000 shares of Viking Therapeutics stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $69.90, for a total transaction of $69,900.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2,354,927 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $164,609,397.30. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 290,241 shares of company stock worth $17,786,475 in the last three months. Insiders own 4.70% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

VKTX has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. began coverage on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a research note on Wednesday. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $80.00 target price for the company. Maxim Group restated a “buy” rating and issued a $120.00 price objective on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a research report on Tuesday, June 4th. StockNews.com raised Viking Therapeutics to a “sell” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. Raymond James raised their price target on Viking Therapeutics from $116.00 to $118.00 and gave the stock a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 25th. Finally, Truist Financial reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $120.00 price objective on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a research report on Monday, June 17th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $108.60.

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.