Los Angeles Capital Management LLC Raises Stock Position in Viking Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VKTX)

Los Angeles Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Viking Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VKTX) by 3.1% in the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 12,278 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock after acquiring an additional 372 shares during the period. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Viking Therapeutics were worth $651,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Victory Capital Management Inc. raised its position in shares of Viking Therapeutics by 8.9% during the 4th quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 37,500 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $698,000 after purchasing an additional 3,049 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in Viking Therapeutics by 1.4% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 775,699 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $14,436,000 after buying an additional 10,379 shares in the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA acquired a new position in shares of Viking Therapeutics during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $12,341,000. Level Four Advisory Services LLC lifted its position in shares of Viking Therapeutics by 87.5% in the fourth quarter. Level Four Advisory Services LLC now owns 31,374 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $584,000 after acquiring an additional 14,638 shares in the last quarter. Finally, UBS Group AG boosted its stake in shares of Viking Therapeutics by 136.4% in the fourth quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 339,726 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $6,322,000 after acquiring an additional 196,015 shares during the last quarter. 76.03% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

VKTX has been the subject of several recent research reports. Truist Financial reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $120.00 price objective on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a research note on Monday, June 17th. HC Wainwright reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $90.00 price target on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a research note on Thursday, July 25th. Morgan Stanley restated an “overweight” rating and set a $105.00 price target on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a research report on Thursday. Raymond James increased their price objective on shares of Viking Therapeutics from $116.00 to $118.00 and gave the company a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, July 25th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded Viking Therapeutics to a “sell” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $108.60.

Viking Therapeutics Stock Up 6.2 %

VKTX stock opened at $66.73 on Friday. Viking Therapeutics, Inc. has a 52-week low of $8.28 and a 52-week high of $99.41. The stock has a market cap of $7.39 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -71.75 and a beta of 1.00. The business has a fifty day moving average of $58.00 and a two-hundred day moving average of $64.08.

Viking Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VKTX) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 24th. The biotechnology company reported ($0.20) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.26) by $0.06. During the same period last year, the company earned ($0.19) EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Viking Therapeutics, Inc. will post -0.99 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Viking Therapeutics

In other news, CEO Brian Lian sold 115,859 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $57.58, for a total value of $6,671,161.22. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2,354,927 shares in the company, valued at approximately $135,596,696.66. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In related news, Director J Matthew Singleton sold 20,786 shares of Viking Therapeutics stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $57.53, for a total value of $1,195,818.58. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 9,500 shares in the company, valued at $546,535. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Brian Lian sold 115,859 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $57.58, for a total transaction of $6,671,161.22. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 2,354,927 shares in the company, valued at $135,596,696.66. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 290,241 shares of company stock worth $17,786,475 over the last three months. Insiders own 4.70% of the company’s stock.

Viking Therapeutics Company 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.