XTX Topco Ltd Acquires Shares of 48,472 Viking Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VKTX)

XTX Topco Ltd bought a new position in shares of Viking Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VKTX) during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm bought 48,472 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,570,000.

Other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. LJI Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in Viking Therapeutics during the 2nd quarter worth $1,601,000. Hsbc Holdings PLC raised its position in shares of Viking Therapeutics by 204.4% during the second quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 13,746 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $738,000 after purchasing an additional 9,230 shares during the period. First Washington CORP lifted its position in Viking Therapeutics by 316.1% in the 2nd quarter. First Washington CORP now owns 39,690 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $2,104,000 after acquiring an additional 30,152 shares in the last quarter. Amalgamated Bank grew its stake in shares of Viking Therapeutics by 103.5% in the 2nd quarter. Amalgamated Bank now owns 7,035 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $373,000 after acquiring an additional 3,578 shares in the last quarter. Finally, E Fund Management Co. Ltd. increased its position in shares of Viking Therapeutics by 237.5% during the second quarter. E Fund Management Co. Ltd. now owns 20,380 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $1,080,000 after acquiring an additional 14,342 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 76.03% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other 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 completion of the transaction, the director now owns 9,500 shares in the company, valued at approximately $546,535. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. In other news, 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 completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2,354,927 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $135,596,696.66. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director J Matthew Singleton sold 20,786 shares of the firm’s 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 directly owns 9,500 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $546,535. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 290,241 shares of company stock valued at $17,786,475. Company insiders own 4.70% of the company’s stock.

Viking Therapeutics Price Performance

Shares of Viking Therapeutics stock opened at $64.45 on Thursday. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $58.50 and a 200 day moving average price of $63.49. Viking Therapeutics, Inc. has a 1 year low of $8.28 and a 1 year high of $99.41. The stock has a market cap of $7.14 billion, a PE ratio of -69.30 and a beta of 1.00.

Viking Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VKTX) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 24th. The biotechnology company reported ($0.20) EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.26) by $0.06. During the same period last year, the company earned ($0.19) earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts expect that Viking Therapeutics, Inc. will post -1 EPS for the current year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Viking Therapeutics to a “sell” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. Raymond James raised their price target on shares of Viking Therapeutics from $116.00 to $118.00 and gave the stock a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, July 25th. Truist Financial restated a “buy” rating and issued a $120.00 price objective on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a report on Monday, June 17th. Morgan Stanley reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $105.00 price target on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a research report on Thursday, September 12th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. initiated coverage on Viking Therapeutics in a research note on Wednesday, September 11th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $80.00 price target for the company. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $108.60.

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.