Stoneridge Investment Partners LLC Acquires New Position in Viking Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VKTX)

Stoneridge Investment Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of Viking Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VKTX) during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 4,240 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock, valued at approximately $225,000.

Other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Viking Therapeutics by 1.8% during 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 during the period. CWM LLC boosted its position in shares of 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 buying an additional 628 shares during the period. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC bought a new position in Viking Therapeutics in the 1st quarter worth approximately $1,422,000. Wasatch Advisors LP increased its position in Viking Therapeutics by 32.4% in the 4th quarter. Wasatch Advisors LP now owns 1,274,945 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $23,727,000 after acquiring an additional 311,681 shares during the period. Finally, Shell Asset Management Co. bought a new stake in Viking Therapeutics during the 1st quarter valued at $262,000. 76.03% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director J Matthew Singleton sold 20,786 shares of the stock in a transaction on 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 sale, the director now owns 9,500 shares in the company, valued at $546,535. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In other news, Director J Matthew Singleton sold 20,786 shares of the company’s 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 transaction, the director now owns 9,500 shares in the company, valued at approximately $546,535. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Brian Lian sold 115,859 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the chief executive officer now owns 2,354,927 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $135,596,696.66. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 290,241 shares of company stock worth $17,786,475. Corporate insiders own 4.70% of the company’s stock.

Viking Therapeutics Stock Up 6.2 %

Shares of NASDAQ VKTX opened at $66.73 on Friday. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $58.00 and a 200-day simple moving average of $64.08. The company has a market cap of $7.39 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -71.75 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.

Viking Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VKTX) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, July 24th. The biotechnology company reported ($0.20) EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.26) by $0.06. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned ($0.19) earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Viking Therapeutics, Inc. will post -0.99 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have recently commented on VKTX shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. initiated coverage on Viking Therapeutics in a report on Wednesday. They set an “overweight” rating and a $80.00 price target on the stock. Maxim Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $120.00 price target on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a research note on Tuesday, June 4th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Viking Therapeutics to a “sell” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. Truist Financial reissued a “buy” rating and set a $120.00 target price on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a report on Monday, June 17th. Finally, Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $105.00 price target on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a research note on Thursday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $108.60.

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.