Aristides Capital LLC Buys 6,000 Shares of Viking Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VKTX)

Aristides Capital LLC boosted its stake in shares of Viking Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VKTX) by 120.0% during the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 11,000 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock after purchasing an additional 6,000 shares during the period. Aristides Capital LLC’s holdings in Viking Therapeutics were worth $583,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV bought a new position in shares of Viking Therapeutics during the first quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Lindbrook Capital LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Viking Therapeutics by 370.7% during the 1st quarter. Lindbrook Capital LLC now owns 353 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 278 shares during the last quarter. LifeSteps Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Viking Therapeutics during the 1st quarter valued at $37,000. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Viking Therapeutics during the 2nd quarter valued at $27,000. Finally, Meeder Asset Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Viking Therapeutics by 140.8% during the 2nd quarter. Meeder Asset Management Inc. now owns 802 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $43,000 after purchasing an additional 469 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 76.03% of the company’s stock.

Viking Therapeutics Price Performance

Shares of VKTX opened at $63.31 on Tuesday. The company has a market cap of $6.98 billion, a P/E ratio of -68.08 and a beta of 1.00. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $60.25 and a 200 day moving average price of $62.76. 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, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.26) by $0.06. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted ($0.19) EPS. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Viking Therapeutics, Inc. will post -1 earnings per share for the current year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

VKTX has been the topic of several research reports. HC Wainwright reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $90.00 target price on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a research report on Thursday, July 25th. Truist Financial restated a “buy” rating and set a $120.00 price objective on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a research report on Monday, June 17th. Morgan Stanley restated an “overweight” rating and set a $105.00 price objective on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a research report on Thursday, September 12th. Maxim Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $120.00 target price on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a report on Tuesday, June 4th. Finally, StockNews.com raised shares of Viking Therapeutics to a “sell” rating in a report on Tuesday, September 24th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $108.60.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO Brian Lian sold 1,000 shares of the 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 2,354,927 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $164,609,397.30. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other Viking Therapeutics news, CEO Brian Lian sold 1,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $69.90, for a total value of $69,900.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 2,354,927 shares in the company, valued at approximately $164,609,397.30. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, COO Marianna Mancini sold 18,026 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 30th. The stock was 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 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. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 516,671 shares of company stock valued at $33,810,813. Corporate 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.