Inspire Investing LLC Purchases 2,105 Shares of Viking Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VKTX)

Inspire Investing LLC increased its position in Viking Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VKTX) by 48.1% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 6,481 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,105 shares during the period. Inspire Investing LLC’s holdings in Viking Therapeutics were worth $344,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the business. Avoro Capital Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Viking Therapeutics in the first quarter valued at $294,380,000. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Viking Therapeutics by 44.7% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 7,785,724 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $638,429,000 after acquiring an additional 2,403,820 shares during the last quarter. Perpetual Ltd acquired a new position in Viking Therapeutics during the 1st quarter valued at about $78,586,000. Hood River Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in Viking Therapeutics during the 1st quarter worth approximately $55,098,000. Finally, Westfield Capital Management Co. LP purchased a new stake in shares of Viking Therapeutics in the first quarter worth approximately $54,295,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.03% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO Brian Lian sold 1,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $69.90, for a total transaction of $69,900.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2,354,927 shares in the company, valued at $164,609,397.30. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. In other Viking Therapeutics news, Director J Matthew Singleton sold 10,300 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $69.50, for a total value of $715,850.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 9,500 shares in the company, valued at approximately $660,250. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available 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 value of $69,900.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now 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. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 516,671 shares of company stock valued at $33,810,813. Corporate insiders own 4.70% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on VKTX shares. StockNews.com upgraded Viking Therapeutics to a “sell” rating in a report on Tuesday. Maxim Group reissued a “buy” rating and set a $120.00 price target on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a research report on Tuesday, June 4th. HC Wainwright reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $90.00 price objective on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a research report on Thursday, July 25th. Raymond James boosted their target price on Viking Therapeutics from $116.00 to $118.00 and gave the stock a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 25th. Finally, Morgan Stanley reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $105.00 price target on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a report on Thursday, September 12th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Viking Therapeutics has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $108.60.

Viking Therapeutics Stock Performance

Shares of VKTX opened at $61.93 on Wednesday. Viking Therapeutics, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $8.28 and a fifty-two week high of $99.41. The business has a 50-day moving average of $59.29 and a 200 day moving average of $62.88. The firm has a market cap of $6.83 billion, a P/E ratio of -66.59 and a beta of 1.00.

Viking Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VKTX) last released its quarterly earnings data 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 in the prior year, the company earned ($0.19) earnings per share. As a group, research analysts predict that Viking Therapeutics, Inc. will post -1 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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.