Xponance Inc. Buys 610 Shares of Viking Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VKTX)

Xponance Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Viking Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VKTX) by 4.5% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 14,024 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock after acquiring an additional 610 shares during the period. Xponance Inc.’s holdings in Viking Therapeutics were worth $564,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Stifel Financial Corp lifted its stake in shares of Viking Therapeutics by 92.1% in the third quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 131,348 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $8,316,000 after buying an additional 62,956 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its holdings in Viking Therapeutics by 6.6% in the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 715,597 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $45,304,000 after acquiring an additional 44,122 shares during the period. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. lifted its position in Viking Therapeutics by 109.1% during the 3rd quarter. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. now owns 34,023 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $2,154,000 after acquiring an additional 17,754 shares during the last quarter. Institute for Wealth Management LLC. boosted its holdings in Viking Therapeutics by 122.4% during the fourth quarter. Institute for Wealth Management LLC. now owns 80,602 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $3,243,000 after acquiring an additional 44,365 shares during the period. Finally, Janney Montgomery Scott LLC grew its position in shares of Viking Therapeutics by 103.1% in the fourth quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 42,612 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $1,715,000 after purchasing an additional 21,627 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.03% of the company’s stock.

Viking Therapeutics Stock Down 4.4 %

NASDAQ:VKTX opened at $27.98 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $3.14 billion, a PE ratio of -27.98 and a beta of 0.90. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $30.73 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $47.14. Viking Therapeutics, Inc. has a 12 month low of $24.41 and a 12 month high of $89.10.

Viking Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VKTX) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 5th. The biotechnology company reported ($0.32) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.27) by ($0.05). During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted ($0.25) earnings per share. On average, research analysts expect that Viking Therapeutics, Inc. will post -1.56 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Viking Therapeutics news, COO Marianna Mancini sold 54,215 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 374,134 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $15,994,228.50. This represents a 12.66 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Brian Lian sold 194,490 shares of Viking Therapeutics stock in a transaction 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 completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2,366,570 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $101,170,867.50. This trade represents a 7.59 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 299,014 shares of company stock valued at $12,782,849. Insiders own 4.70% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

VKTX has been the subject of several research analyst reports. HC Wainwright reissued a “buy” rating and set a $102.00 price objective on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a research report on Tuesday, March 11th. Raymond James upped their price target on Viking Therapeutics from $122.00 to $125.00 and gave the stock a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Maxim Group lowered their price objective on shares of Viking Therapeutics from $120.00 to $70.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, February 7th. Citigroup began coverage on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a research note on Friday, February 7th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $38.00 target price for the company. Finally, Piper Sandler decreased their price target on shares of Viking Therapeutics from $74.00 to $71.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has given a hold rating, eleven have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $97.67.

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.