Virtu Financial LLC Takes $1.46 Million Position in Viking Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VKTX)

Virtu Financial LLC purchased a new position in Viking Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VKTX) in the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm purchased 27,569 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,461,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Victory Capital Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Viking Therapeutics by 8.9% in the 4th quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 37,500 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $698,000 after acquiring an additional 3,049 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in Viking Therapeutics by 1.4% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 775,699 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $14,436,000 after purchasing an additional 10,379 shares during the last quarter. Level Four Advisory Services LLC boosted its position in shares of Viking Therapeutics by 87.5% during the fourth quarter. Level Four Advisory Services LLC now owns 31,374 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $584,000 after buying an additional 14,638 shares during the period. UBS Group AG raised its holdings in shares of Viking Therapeutics by 136.4% in the fourth quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 339,726 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $6,322,000 after buying an additional 196,015 shares during the period. Finally, Nemes Rush Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of Viking Therapeutics during the 4th quarter worth approximately $93,000. 76.03% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have commented on VKTX shares. Raymond James upped their price objective on Viking Therapeutics from $116.00 to $118.00 and gave the company a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 25th. HC Wainwright reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $90.00 price target on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a research note on Thursday, July 25th. Maxim Group reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $120.00 price objective on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a research report on Tuesday, June 4th. StockNews.com raised shares of Viking Therapeutics to a “sell” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. Finally, Truist Financial reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $120.00 price target on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a research note on Monday, June 17th. One 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 MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $108.60.

Viking Therapeutics Trading Down 6.2 %

Shares of NASDAQ:VKTX opened at $62.94 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $6.94 billion, a PE ratio of -67.68 and a beta of 1.00. Viking Therapeutics, Inc. has a 12-month low of $8.28 and a 12-month high of $99.41. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $58.32 and its 200-day simple moving average is $63.65.

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 period in the previous year, the business posted ($0.19) earnings per share. Research analysts predict that Viking Therapeutics, Inc. will post -0.99 EPS for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Viking Therapeutics

In related news, 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 completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 2,354,927 shares in the company, valued at approximately $135,596,696.66. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In related news, CEO Brian Lian sold 115,859 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $57.58, for a total transaction of $6,671,161.22. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2,354,927 shares in the company, valued at approximately $135,596,696.66. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, COO Marianna Mancini sold 18,026 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $57.13, for a total value of $1,029,825.38. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 362,149 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $20,689,572.37. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 290,241 shares of company stock valued at $17,786,475 in the last 90 days. Insiders own 4.70% of the company’s stock.

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.