Swiss National Bank Grows Stake in Viking Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VKTX)

Swiss National Bank boosted its holdings in Viking Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VKTX) by 0.1% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 193,800 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock after purchasing an additional 200 shares during the quarter. Swiss National Bank owned approximately 0.17% of Viking Therapeutics worth $12,269,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Oak Ridge Investments LLC bought a new position in shares of Viking Therapeutics during the third quarter worth $837,000. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Viking Therapeutics by 43.5% during the 3rd quarter. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. now owns 102,324 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $6,478,000 after purchasing an additional 31,011 shares during the last quarter. Nvwm LLC purchased a new position in shares of Viking Therapeutics during the third quarter valued at about $999,000. Chartwell Investment Partners LLC grew its position in shares of Viking Therapeutics by 88.0% during the third quarter. Chartwell Investment Partners LLC now owns 36,666 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $2,322,000 after purchasing an additional 17,159 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Aptus Capital Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Viking Therapeutics by 34.1% in the third quarter. Aptus Capital Advisors LLC now owns 38,143 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $2,415,000 after purchasing an additional 9,699 shares during the last quarter. 76.03% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Viking Therapeutics

In other Viking Therapeutics news, Director Lawson Macartney sold 2,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $68.67, for a total value of $137,340.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 47,965 shares in the company, valued at $3,293,756.55. This represents a 4.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CFO Greg Zante sold 131,687 shares of Viking Therapeutics stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, October 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $76.61, for a total transaction of $10,088,541.07. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 149,366 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $11,442,929.26. This represents a 46.85 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 371,117 shares of company stock worth $27,140,009. Insiders own 4.70% of the company’s stock.

Viking Therapeutics Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:VKTX opened at $52.59 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.86 billion, a PE ratio of -56.55 and a beta of 1.00. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $63.73 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $60.38. Viking Therapeutics, Inc. has a 1 year low of $11.55 and a 1 year high of $99.41.

Viking Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VKTX) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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 firm posted ($0.23) EPS. Equities research analysts expect that Viking Therapeutics, Inc. will post -0.98 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have weighed in on VKTX. Morgan Stanley restated an “overweight” rating and set a $105.00 price target on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a report on Thursday, September 12th. Oppenheimer restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $138.00 price target on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a research report on Wednesday, September 25th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Viking Therapeutics to a “sell” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 15th. William Blair restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a report on Wednesday. Finally, HC Wainwright increased their price target on shares of Viking Therapeutics from $90.00 to $102.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, November 4th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $109.73.

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.