International Assets Investment Management LLC Raises Holdings in Viking Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VKTX)

International Assets Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Viking Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VKTX) by 42.6% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 9,232 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,756 shares during the period. International Assets Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Viking Therapeutics were worth $489,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Viking Therapeutics by 1.8% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 5,381,904 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $100,157,000 after acquiring an additional 97,552 shares in the last quarter. CWM LLC boosted its position in Viking Therapeutics by 70.6% during the second quarter. CWM LLC now owns 1,518 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $80,000 after purchasing an additional 628 shares in the last quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC purchased a new position in shares of Viking Therapeutics in the first quarter valued at $1,422,000. Wasatch Advisors LP increased its position in shares of Viking Therapeutics by 32.4% in the fourth quarter. Wasatch Advisors LP now owns 1,274,945 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $23,727,000 after buying an additional 311,681 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Shell Asset Management Co. acquired a new position in shares of Viking Therapeutics during the 1st quarter worth $262,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.03% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on VKTX shares. Raymond James lifted their target price on shares of Viking Therapeutics from $116.00 to $118.00 and gave the stock a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 25th. Truist Financial reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $120.00 target price on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a report on Monday, June 17th. Maxim Group restated a “buy” rating and issued a $120.00 price objective on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a research report on Tuesday, June 4th. 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. Finally, Morgan Stanley assumed coverage on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a report on Thursday, June 27th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $105.00 target price on the stock. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $111.78.

Insider Buying and Selling at Viking Therapeutics

In related news, Director J Matthew Singleton sold 20,786 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $57.53, for a total transaction of $1,195,818.58. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 9,500 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $546,535. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In related news, Director J Matthew Singleton sold 20,786 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $57.53, for a total value of $1,195,818.58. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 9,500 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $546,535. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, COO Marianna Mancini sold 18,026 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 362,149 shares in the company, valued at $20,689,572.37. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 290,241 shares of company stock valued at $17,786,475 over the last three months. 4.70% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Viking Therapeutics Stock Up 2.3 %

Shares of NASDAQ VKTX opened at $64.12 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $7.07 billion, a PE ratio of -68.95 and a beta of 1.03. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $56.40 and a 200-day moving average of $62.41. Viking Therapeutics, Inc. has a 52-week low of $8.28 and a 52-week high of $99.41.

Viking Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VKTX) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 24th. The biotechnology company reported ($0.20) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.26) by $0.06. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned ($0.19) EPS. Equities research analysts expect that Viking Therapeutics, Inc. will post -0.99 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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.