Cerity Partners LLC Buys Shares of 13,969 Viking Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VKTX)

Cerity Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Viking Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VKTX) during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm acquired 13,969 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock, valued at approximately $884,000.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Signaturefd LLC lifted its position in Viking Therapeutics by 16.2% in the 3rd quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 1,351 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $86,000 after buying an additional 188 shares during the last quarter. Keudell Morrison Wealth Management lifted its holdings in shares of Viking Therapeutics by 5.9% in the 3rd quarter. Keudell Morrison Wealth Management now owns 4,306 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $273,000 after acquiring an additional 241 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its stake in shares of Viking Therapeutics by 124.6% in the 3rd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 438 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $28,000 after purchasing an additional 243 shares in the last quarter. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV grew its holdings in shares of Viking Therapeutics by 84.3% during the 3rd 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. Finally, Los Angeles Capital Management LLC raised its position in Viking Therapeutics by 3.1% in 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 period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.03% of the company’s stock.

Viking Therapeutics Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ VKTX opened at $49.88 on Friday. Viking Therapeutics, Inc. has a 1 year low of $16.70 and a 1 year high of $99.41. The stock has a market capitalization of $5.56 billion, a P/E ratio of -55.10 and a beta of 0.88. The company’s 50-day moving average is $61.68 and its 200 day moving average is $59.18.

Viking Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VKTX) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The biotechnology company reported ($0.22) earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.24) by $0.02. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted ($0.23) EPS. Research analysts anticipate that Viking Therapeutics, Inc. will post -0.97 earnings per share for the current year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on VKTX. StockNews.com raised Viking Therapeutics to a “sell” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 15th. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $105.00 price target on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a research note on Thursday, September 12th. Piper Sandler assumed coverage on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a report on Monday. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $74.00 target price on the stock. B. Riley began coverage on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a report on Friday, November 22nd. They set a “buy” rating and a $109.00 price target for the company. Finally, HC Wainwright reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $102.00 price target on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a report on Tuesday, November 26th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Viking Therapeutics presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $106.75.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director J Matthew Singleton sold 10,300 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, September 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $69.50, for a total transaction of $715,850.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 9,500 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $660,250. This trade represents a 52.02 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Lawson Macartney sold 2,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, November 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $68.67, for a total value of $137,340.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 47,965 shares in the company, valued at $3,293,756.55. This trade represents a 4.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 371,117 shares of company stock worth $27,140,009. 4.70% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

About Viking Therapeutics

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.