Values First Advisors Inc. Acquires Shares of 884 Viking Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VKTX)

Values First Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Viking Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VKTX) in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund acquired 884 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock, valued at approximately $56,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Blue Trust Inc. acquired a new stake in Viking Therapeutics in the third quarter valued at $26,000. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Viking Therapeutics during the 2nd quarter worth about $27,000. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its stake in Viking Therapeutics by 124.6% during the third quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 438 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $28,000 after purchasing an additional 243 shares during the last quarter. Gilliland Jeter Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in Viking Therapeutics in the third quarter valued at approximately $32,000. Finally, Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV increased its stake in Viking Therapeutics by 84.3% in the third quarter. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV now owns 553 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $35,000 after purchasing an additional 253 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.03% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on VKTX. HC Wainwright restated a “buy” rating and issued a $90.00 target price on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a report on Thursday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. initiated coverage on Viking Therapeutics in a report on Wednesday, September 11th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $80.00 price objective for the company. Raymond James raised their price objective on shares of Viking Therapeutics from $116.00 to $118.00 and gave the stock a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 25th. Oppenheimer reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $138.00 target price on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a report on Wednesday, September 25th. Finally, Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $105.00 price objective 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 assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Viking Therapeutics presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $108.60.

Insider Activity at Viking Therapeutics

In other Viking Therapeutics news, CEO Brian Lian sold 216,130 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $70.83, for a total transaction of $15,308,487.90. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2,304,927 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $163,257,979.41. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. In other Viking Therapeutics news, Director Sarah Kathryn Rouan sold 11,000 shares of Viking Therapeutics stock in a transaction dated Friday, October 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $80.89, for a total value of $889,790.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 9,500 shares in the company, valued at $768,455. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Brian Lian sold 216,130 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $70.83, for a total transaction of $15,308,487.90. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 2,304,927 shares in the company, valued at approximately $163,257,979.41. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 527,671 shares of company stock valued at $34,700,603 over the last quarter. Insiders own 4.70% of the company’s stock.

Viking Therapeutics Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ VKTX opened at $78.03 on Friday. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $63.67 and its two-hundred day moving average is $61.76. The company has a market capitalization of $8.60 billion, a PE ratio of -83.90 and a beta of 1.00. Viking Therapeutics, Inc. has a 12-month low of $8.28 and a 12-month high of $99.41.

Viking Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VKTX) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The biotechnology company reported ($0.22) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.24) by $0.02. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted ($0.23) earnings per share. On average, analysts forecast that Viking Therapeutics, Inc. will post -1 EPS 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.