Second Line Capital LLC Makes New Investment in Viking Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VKTX)

Second Line Capital LLC acquired a new stake in Viking Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VKTX) in the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 28,419 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,506,000.

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

VKTX has been the subject of several research reports. StockNews.com upgraded Viking Therapeutics to a “sell” rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 24th. HC Wainwright reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $90.00 price target on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a research report on Thursday, July 25th. Raymond James raised their price objective on Viking Therapeutics from $116.00 to $118.00 and gave the company a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, July 25th. Maxim Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $120.00 target price on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a research note on Tuesday, June 4th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. assumed coverage on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a research report on Wednesday, September 11th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $80.00 target price for the company. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Viking Therapeutics presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $108.60.

Viking Therapeutics Price Performance

VKTX stock opened at $61.63 on Monday. The company has a market cap of $6.80 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -66.27 and a beta of 1.00. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $60.02 and a 200 day moving average price of $62.77. Viking Therapeutics, Inc. has a 12 month low of $8.28 and a 12 month high of $99.41.

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

Insider Transactions at Viking Therapeutics

In related news, COO Marianna Mancini sold 18,026 shares of Viking Therapeutics stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $57.13, for a total value of $1,029,825.38. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 362,149 shares in the company, valued at approximately $20,689,572.37. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In other news, CEO Brian Lian sold 115,859 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $57.58, for a total value 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 $135,596,696.66. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, COO Marianna Mancini sold 18,026 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $57.13, for a total transaction of $1,029,825.38. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 362,149 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $20,689,572.37. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 516,671 shares of company stock worth $33,810,813 over the last 90 days. 4.70% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.