Eventide Asset Management LLC Acquires 200,000 Shares of Viking Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VKTX)

Eventide Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in Viking Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VKTX) by 79.1% in the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 452,969 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock after acquiring an additional 200,000 shares during the period. Eventide Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Viking Therapeutics were worth $28,677,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Verition Fund Management LLC boosted its stake in Viking Therapeutics by 80.6% in the 3rd quarter. Verition Fund Management LLC now owns 7,721 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $489,000 after purchasing an additional 3,446 shares during the period. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. boosted 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 acquiring an additional 17,754 shares during the period. Financial Counselors Inc. bought a new position in shares of Viking Therapeutics in the third quarter valued at approximately $2,911,000. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank boosted its position in shares of Viking Therapeutics by 2.9% in the third quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 22,823 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $1,445,000 after acquiring an additional 646 shares during the period. Finally, Stone House Investment Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Viking Therapeutics by 66.7% in the third quarter. Stone House Investment Management LLC now owns 500 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $32,000 after acquiring an additional 200 shares during the period. 76.03% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Viking Therapeutics Stock Performance

Shares of VKTX opened at $54.51 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $6.07 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -58.61 and a beta of 1.00. Viking Therapeutics, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $11.55 and a fifty-two week high of $99.41. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $62.77 and a 200-day moving average price of $59.83.

Viking Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VKTX) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 23rd. The biotechnology company reported ($0.22) earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.24) by $0.02. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned ($0.23) earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Viking Therapeutics, Inc. will post -0.98 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Viking Therapeutics

In related news, CEO Brian Lian sold 216,130 shares of Viking Therapeutics stock in a transaction on Friday, September 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $70.83, for a total value of $15,308,487.90. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2,304,927 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $163,257,979.41. The trade was a 8.57 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, Director Lawson Macartney sold 2,000 shares of Viking Therapeutics stock in a transaction on Friday, November 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $68.67, for a total transaction of $137,340.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 47,965 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,293,756.55. The trade was a 4.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 371,117 shares of company stock worth $27,140,009. 4.70% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on VKTX shares. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Viking Therapeutics to a “sell” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 15th. HC Wainwright restated a “buy” rating and issued a $102.00 price objective on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a research report on Tuesday. B. Riley started coverage on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a research report on Friday, November 22nd. They issued a “buy” rating and a $109.00 price objective for the company. Oppenheimer restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $138.00 price objective on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a research report on Wednesday, September 25th. Finally, Morgan Stanley restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $105.00 price objective on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a research report on Thursday, September 12th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $109.73.

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.