Viking Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VKTX) Shares Purchased by Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA

Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA lifted its position in Viking Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VKTX) by 446.7% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,357,241 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,108,972 shares during the quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA owned 1.22% of Viking Therapeutics worth $54,615,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in VKTX. Blue Trust Inc. boosted its holdings in Viking Therapeutics by 75.9% in the fourth quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 716 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 309 shares during the period. YANKCOM Partnership acquired a new position in shares of Viking Therapeutics in the 4th quarter valued at about $33,000. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Viking Therapeutics by 170.2% in the 4th quarter. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC now owns 1,351 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $55,000 after buying an additional 851 shares during the period. S.A. Mason LLC grew its position in shares of Viking Therapeutics by 20.0% during the 4th quarter. S.A. Mason LLC now owns 1,800 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $72,000 after buying an additional 300 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Wolff Wiese Magana LLC bought a new position in Viking Therapeutics in the fourth quarter worth about $75,000. 76.03% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Viking Therapeutics Price Performance

NASDAQ VKTX opened at $22.62 on Friday. Viking Therapeutics, Inc. has a 12 month low of $21.53 and a 12 month high of $81.86. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.54 billion, a PE ratio of -22.62 and a beta of 0.84. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $29.32 and its 200 day simple moving average is $45.20.

Viking Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VKTX) last issued its quarterly earnings results 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 quarter in the prior year, the business posted ($0.25) earnings per share. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Viking Therapeutics, Inc. will post -1.56 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have recently commented on the company. Piper Sandler lowered their target price on Viking Therapeutics from $74.00 to $71.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Citigroup initiated coverage on Viking Therapeutics in a research report on Friday, February 7th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $38.00 target price on the stock. HC Wainwright reissued a “buy” rating and set a $102.00 price target on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a report on Wednesday, March 26th. Maxim Group lowered their price target on shares of Viking Therapeutics from $120.00 to $70.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Finally, B. Riley reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $96.00 price objective (down from $109.00) on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a research report on Friday, February 7th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has assigned a hold rating, ten have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Viking Therapeutics has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $95.18.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Sarah Kathryn Rouan bought 1,240 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 31st. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $24.15 per share, for a total transaction of $29,946.00. Following the acquisition, the director now directly owns 1,240 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $29,946. The trade was a ∞ increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available 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 value of $8,314,447.50. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2,366,570 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $101,170,867.50. This represents a 7.59 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 299,014 shares of company stock worth $12,782,849. 4.70% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.