MML Investors Services LLC Acquires 13,409 Shares of Viking Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VKTX)

MML Investors Services LLC raised its holdings in Viking Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VKTX) by 193.1% during the third quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 20,352 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock after buying an additional 13,409 shares during the quarter. MML Investors Services LLC’s holdings in Viking Therapeutics were worth $1,288,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Pier Capital LLC lifted its stake in shares of Viking Therapeutics by 55.7% in the third quarter. Pier Capital LLC now owns 89,147 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $5,644,000 after buying an additional 31,908 shares in the last quarter. Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC bought a new position in shares of Viking Therapeutics in the third quarter valued at $492,000. National Bank of Canada FI lifted its stake in shares of Viking Therapeutics by 2,265.3% in the third quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 3,548 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $225,000 after buying an additional 3,398 shares in the last quarter. Sphera Funds Management LTD. bought a new position in shares of Viking Therapeutics in the third quarter valued at $8,424,000. Finally, 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 valued at $8,316,000 after buying an additional 62,956 shares in the last quarter. 76.03% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Viking Therapeutics Stock Performance

NASDAQ VKTX opened at $38.28 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $4.27 billion, a PE ratio of -41.16 and a beta of 0.88. Viking Therapeutics, Inc. has a 52-week low of $17.23 and a 52-week high of $99.41. The company 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 issued its earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The biotechnology company reported ($0.22) earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.24) by $0.02. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted ($0.23) EPS. As a group, analysts forecast that Viking Therapeutics, Inc. will post -0.97 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Viking Therapeutics news, Director J Matthew Singleton sold 10,300 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $69.50, for a total transaction of $715,850.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 9,500 shares in the company, valued at $660,250. This trade represents a 52.02 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, Director Lawson Macartney sold 2,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $68.67, for a total transaction of $137,340.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 47,965 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,293,756.55. This trade represents a 4.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 371,117 shares of company stock worth $27,140,009 over the last quarter. 4.70% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have recently commented on the stock. B. Riley assumed coverage on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a report on Friday, November 22nd. They issued a “buy” rating and a $109.00 target price for the company. Morgan Stanley reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $105.00 target price on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a report on Thursday, September 12th. Piper Sandler assumed coverage on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a report on Monday, December 2nd. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $74.00 target price for the company. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Viking Therapeutics to a “sell” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 15th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. assumed coverage on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a report on Wednesday, September 11th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $80.00 target price for the company. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $106.75.

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.