M&T Bank Corp Purchases Shares of 5,593 Viking Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VKTX)

M&T Bank Corp acquired a new position in shares of Viking Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VKTX) during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 5,593 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock, valued at approximately $354,000.

Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. Blue Trust Inc. acquired a new stake in Viking Therapeutics during the 3rd quarter worth $26,000. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its holdings 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 during the last quarter. Stone House Investment Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Viking Therapeutics by 66.7% in the 3rd quarter. Stone House Investment Management LLC now owns 500 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $32,000 after purchasing an additional 200 shares during the period. Gilliland Jeter Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in Viking Therapeutics during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $32,000. Finally, Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV increased its position in Viking Therapeutics by 84.3% during the third quarter. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV now owns 553 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $35,000 after buying an additional 253 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.03% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Viking Therapeutics news, CEO Brian Lian sold 216,130 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on 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 sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2,304,927 shares in the company, valued at approximately $163,257,979.41. The trade was a 8.57 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Sarah Kathryn Rouan sold 11,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, October 25th. The shares were 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 directly owns 9,500 shares in the company, valued at $768,455. This trade represents a 53.66 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 371,117 shares of company stock valued at $27,140,009. Corporate insiders own 4.70% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have recently weighed in on VKTX. B. Riley initiated coverage on Viking Therapeutics in a report on Friday, November 22nd. They issued a “buy” rating and a $109.00 price objective for the company. HC Wainwright reissued a “buy” rating and set a $102.00 price objective on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a research report on Wednesday. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $105.00 target price on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a report on Thursday, September 12th. StockNews.com raised Viking Therapeutics to a “sell” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 15th. Finally, Piper Sandler began coverage on Viking Therapeutics in a research note on Monday, December 2nd. They set an “overweight” rating and a $74.00 price objective for the company. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $106.75.

Viking Therapeutics Price Performance

VKTX opened at $38.28 on Thursday. Viking Therapeutics, Inc. has a 12 month low of $17.23 and a 12 month high of $99.41. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.27 billion, a P/E ratio of -41.16 and a beta of 0.88. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $58.47 and a 200-day simple moving average of $58.06.

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