Alliancebernstein L.P. Increases Position in Viking Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VKTX)

Alliancebernstein L.P. boosted its holdings in shares of Viking Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VKTX) by 7.9% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,115,068 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock after purchasing an additional 81,183 shares during the quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. owned approximately 1.00% of Viking Therapeutics worth $44,870,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Virtu Financial LLC acquired a new stake in Viking Therapeutics in the 4th quarter valued at $1,715,000. Stifel Financial Corp lifted its holdings in Viking Therapeutics by 92.1% during the third quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 131,348 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $8,316,000 after purchasing an additional 62,956 shares in the last quarter. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. grew its position in shares of Viking Therapeutics by 109.1% in the third quarter. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. now owns 34,023 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $2,154,000 after purchasing an additional 17,754 shares during the period. Institute for Wealth Management LLC. increased its stake in shares of 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 worth $3,243,000 after purchasing an additional 44,365 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Janney Montgomery Scott LLC raised its position in shares of Viking Therapeutics by 103.1% during the 4th quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 42,612 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $1,715,000 after purchasing an additional 21,627 shares during the last quarter. 76.03% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Sarah Kathryn Rouan acquired 1,240 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 31st. The shares were bought at an average price of $24.15 per share, with a total value of $29,946.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now owns 1,240 shares in the company, valued at $29,946. This trade represents a ∞ increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Brian Lian sold 194,490 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, January 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $42.75, for a total transaction of $8,314,447.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 2,366,570 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $101,170,867.50. The trade was a 7.59 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 299,014 shares of company stock valued at $12,782,849 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 4.70% of the company’s stock.

Viking Therapeutics Stock Performance

Shares of Viking Therapeutics stock opened at $22.62 on Friday. Viking Therapeutics, Inc. has a one year low of $21.53 and a one year high of $81.86. The company has a market cap of $2.54 billion, a PE ratio of -22.62 and a beta of 0.84. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $29.32 and a 200-day simple moving average of $45.20.

Viking Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VKTX) last released 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 period last year, the firm earned ($0.25) EPS. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Viking Therapeutics, Inc. will post -1.56 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have commented on VKTX shares. Raymond James boosted their price objective on Viking Therapeutics from $122.00 to $125.00 and gave the stock a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Scotiabank started coverage on Viking Therapeutics in a report on Thursday, February 13th. They issued a “sector outperform” rating and a $102.00 price objective on the stock. B. Riley reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $96.00 target price (down previously from $109.00) on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a report on Friday, February 7th. Maxim Group lowered their price target on shares of Viking Therapeutics from $120.00 to $70.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Finally, Citigroup started coverage on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a report on Friday, February 7th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $38.00 price objective for the company. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has given a hold rating, ten have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Viking Therapeutics currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $95.18.

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.