Viking Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VKTX) Shares Acquired by Arizona State Retirement System

Arizona State Retirement System lifted its stake in shares of Viking Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VKTX) by 1.2% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 28,929 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock after acquiring an additional 353 shares during the period. Arizona State Retirement System’s holdings in Viking Therapeutics were worth $1,164,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Stone House Investment Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Viking Therapeutics by 66.7% during the third quarter. Stone House Investment Management LLC now owns 500 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $32,000 after acquiring an additional 200 shares during the last quarter. S.A. Mason LLC boosted its stake in shares of Viking Therapeutics by 20.0% during the fourth quarter. S.A. Mason LLC now owns 1,800 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $72,000 after acquiring an additional 300 shares during the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Viking Therapeutics by 75.9% during the fourth quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 716 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $29,000 after acquiring an additional 309 shares during the last quarter. Activest Wealth Management boosted its stake in shares of Viking Therapeutics by 24.1% during the fourth quarter. Activest Wealth Management now owns 2,165 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $87,000 after acquiring an additional 420 shares during the last quarter. Finally, KBC Group NV boosted its stake in shares of Viking Therapeutics by 18.7% during the third quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 2,997 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $190,000 after acquiring an additional 473 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.03% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Viking Therapeutics

In other Viking Therapeutics news, COO Marianna Mancini sold 54,215 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $42.75, for a total transaction of $2,317,691.25. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 374,134 shares in the company, valued at $15,994,228.50. This trade represents a 12.66 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Brian Lian sold 194,490 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $42.75, for a total value of $8,314,447.50. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 2,366,570 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $101,170,867.50. This trade represents a 7.59 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 299,014 shares of company stock worth $12,782,849. 4.70% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Viking Therapeutics Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:VKTX opened at $29.73 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $3.34 billion, a P/E ratio of -29.73 and a beta of 0.90. Viking Therapeutics, Inc. has a one year low of $24.41 and a one year high of $89.10. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $32.66 and its 200 day simple moving average is $49.20.

Viking Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VKTX) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The biotechnology company reported ($0.32) EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.27) by ($0.05). During the same quarter last year, the firm posted ($0.25) earnings per share. Analysts predict that Viking Therapeutics, Inc. will post -1.56 earnings per share for the current year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

VKTX has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Scotiabank initiated coverage on Viking Therapeutics in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. They issued a “sector outperform” rating and a $102.00 price target on the stock. HC Wainwright reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $102.00 price target on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a research note on Tuesday. Raymond James raised their price target on Viking Therapeutics from $122.00 to $125.00 and gave the stock a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. B. Riley reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $96.00 price target (down from $109.00) on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a research note on Friday, February 7th. Finally, Maxim Group decreased their price target on Viking Therapeutics from $120.00 to $70.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, February 7th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has issued a hold rating, twelve have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $96.31.

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.