Hood River Capital Management LLC Increases Stake in Viking Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VKTX)

Hood River Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in Viking Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VKTX) by 6.3% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 714,578 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock after purchasing an additional 42,650 shares during the quarter. Hood River Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Viking Therapeutics were worth $37,880,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Lindbrook Capital LLC grew its stake in shares of Viking Therapeutics by 370.7% during the first quarter. Lindbrook Capital LLC now owns 353 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $29,000 after buying an additional 278 shares during the last quarter. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV purchased a new stake in Viking Therapeutics during the 1st quarter valued at about $25,000. 9258 Wealth Management LLC grew its position in Viking Therapeutics by 2.9% during the 1st quarter. 9258 Wealth Management LLC now owns 12,379 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $1,015,000 after acquiring an additional 351 shares during the last quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC increased its stake 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. Finally, Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. lifted its position in Viking Therapeutics by 5.5% in the second quarter. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. now owns 7,457 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $395,000 after purchasing an additional 386 shares during the last quarter. 76.03% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on VKTX. Raymond James raised their target price on shares of Viking Therapeutics from $116.00 to $118.00 and gave the stock a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, July 25th. Truist Financial reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $120.00 price target on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a report on Monday, June 17th. StockNews.com raised Viking Therapeutics to a “sell” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. initiated coverage on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a report on Wednesday, September 11th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $80.00 price objective for the company. Finally, HC Wainwright reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $90.00 target price on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a research note on Thursday, July 25th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $108.60.

Insider Activity at Viking Therapeutics

In other Viking Therapeutics news, CEO Brian Lian sold 115,859 shares of Viking Therapeutics stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $57.58, for a total value of $6,671,161.22. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 2,354,927 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $135,596,696.66. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In related news, Director J Matthew Singleton sold 20,786 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $57.53, for a total value of $1,195,818.58. Following the transaction, the director now owns 9,500 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $546,535. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Brian Lian sold 115,859 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $57.58, for a total transaction of $6,671,161.22. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 2,354,927 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $135,596,696.66. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 516,671 shares of company stock worth $33,810,813 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 4.70% of the company’s stock.

Viking Therapeutics Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:VKTX opened at $70.47 on Monday. Viking Therapeutics, Inc. has a 1 year low of $8.28 and a 1 year high of $99.41. The company has a market cap of $7.77 billion, a P/E ratio of -75.77 and a beta of 1.00. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $59.08 and its 200-day moving average price is $63.01.

Viking Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VKTX) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, July 24th. The biotechnology company reported ($0.20) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.26) by $0.06. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted ($0.19) EPS. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Viking Therapeutics, Inc. will post -1 earnings per share for the current year.

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.