Amalgamated Bank Boosts Stake in Viking Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VKTX)

Amalgamated Bank boosted its holdings in shares of Viking Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VKTX) by 103.5% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 7,035 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock after acquiring an additional 3,578 shares during the period. Amalgamated Bank’s holdings in Viking Therapeutics were worth $373,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Avoro Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Viking Therapeutics during the first quarter worth approximately $294,380,000. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Viking Therapeutics by 44.7% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 7,785,724 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $638,429,000 after purchasing an additional 2,403,820 shares in the last quarter. Perpetual Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of Viking Therapeutics during the first quarter worth $78,586,000. Hood River Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in Viking Therapeutics in the 1st quarter valued at about $55,098,000. Finally, Westfield Capital Management Co. LP acquired a new stake in Viking Therapeutics in the first quarter valued at approximately $54,295,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.03% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have weighed in on the company. Oppenheimer restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $138.00 price target on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a research note on Wednesday, September 25th. Truist Financial reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $120.00 price target on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a research report on Monday, June 17th. Raymond James lifted their target price on Viking Therapeutics from $116.00 to $118.00 and gave the stock a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 25th. StockNews.com raised shares of Viking Therapeutics to a “sell” rating in a report on Tuesday, September 24th. Finally, HC Wainwright reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $90.00 price objective 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 issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $108.60.

Viking Therapeutics Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:VKTX opened at $61.63 on Monday. The firm has a market capitalization of $6.80 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -66.27 and a beta of 1.00. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $60.02 and its 200-day simple moving average is $62.77. Viking Therapeutics, Inc. has a 12 month low of $8.28 and a 12 month high of $99.41.

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Viking Therapeutics news, CEO Brian Lian sold 216,130 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $70.83, for a total transaction of $15,308,487.90. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2,304,927 shares in the company, valued at approximately $163,257,979.41. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other news, COO Marianna Mancini sold 18,026 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $57.13, for a total value of $1,029,825.38. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 362,149 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $20,689,572.37. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Brian Lian sold 216,130 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, September 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $70.83, for a total value 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 516,671 shares of company stock worth $33,810,813 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 4.70% of the company’s stock.

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.