Commonwealth Equity Services LLC Purchases 15,244 Shares of Viking Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VKTX)

Commonwealth Equity Services LLC boosted its holdings in Viking Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VKTX) by 27.2% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 71,193 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock after buying an additional 15,244 shares during the period. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC’s holdings in Viking Therapeutics were worth $2,865,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vestcor Inc raised its stake in shares of Viking Therapeutics by 39.3% during the fourth quarter. Vestcor Inc now owns 16,300 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $656,000 after acquiring an additional 4,600 shares during the last quarter. Swiss National Bank raised its position in Viking Therapeutics by 1.2% during the 4th quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 196,200 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $7,895,000 after purchasing an additional 2,400 shares during the last quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. lifted its holdings in Viking Therapeutics by 137.0% during the 4th quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. now owns 375,222 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $15,099,000 after buying an additional 216,873 shares during the period. Wealthfront Advisers LLC bought a new stake in shares of Viking Therapeutics in the 4th quarter valued at about $233,000. Finally, AGF Management Ltd. increased its stake in shares of Viking Therapeutics by 50.1% in the fourth quarter. AGF Management Ltd. now owns 164,263 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $6,610,000 after buying an additional 54,814 shares during the period. 76.03% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages recently commented on VKTX. Citigroup started coverage on Viking Therapeutics in a report on Friday, February 7th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $38.00 target price on the stock. Piper Sandler reduced their price objective on shares of Viking Therapeutics from $74.00 to $71.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Maxim Group decreased their price objective 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. Scotiabank initiated coverage on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a report on Thursday, February 13th. They issued a “sector outperform” rating and a $102.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Raymond James increased their price target on Viking Therapeutics from $122.00 to $125.00 and gave the stock a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, February 6th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has issued a hold rating, eleven have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Viking Therapeutics currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $97.67.

Viking Therapeutics Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:VKTX opened at $27.98 on Wednesday. Viking Therapeutics, Inc. has a 52-week low of $24.41 and a 52-week high of $89.10. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $30.73 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $47.14. The firm has a market cap of $3.14 billion, a P/E ratio of -27.98 and a beta of 0.90.

Viking Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VKTX) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The biotechnology company reported ($0.32) earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.27) by ($0.05). During the same period in the prior year, the business earned ($0.25) earnings per share. On average, equities analysts forecast that Viking Therapeutics, Inc. will post -1.56 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Viking Therapeutics

In other news, COO Marianna Mancini sold 54,215 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $42.75, for a total value of $2,317,691.25. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 374,134 shares in the company, valued at $15,994,228.50. This trade represents a 12.66 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Brian Lian sold 194,490 shares of Viking Therapeutics stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2,366,570 shares in the company, 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. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 299,014 shares of company stock valued at $12,782,849. Corporate 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.