Quantum Private Wealth LLC Grows Stock Holdings in Viking Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VKTX)

Quantum Private Wealth LLC raised its holdings in shares of Viking Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VKTX) by 2.2% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 85,916 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock after buying an additional 1,832 shares during the quarter. Viking Therapeutics comprises 1.1% of Quantum Private Wealth LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 15th largest holding. Quantum Private Wealth LLC’s holdings in Viking Therapeutics were worth $3,457,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in VKTX. Montag A & Associates Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Viking Therapeutics by 8.0% in the 4th quarter. Montag A & Associates Inc. now owns 10,901 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $439,000 after acquiring an additional 807 shares during the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Viking Therapeutics by 363.1% in the 4th quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 1,885 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $76,000 after purchasing an additional 1,478 shares during the period. Van ECK Associates Corp increased its position in shares of Viking Therapeutics by 58.0% during the 4th quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 14,911 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $600,000 after purchasing an additional 5,475 shares during the last quarter. Legato Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in Viking Therapeutics by 36.0% during the 4th quarter. Legato Capital Management LLC now owns 7,200 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $290,000 after buying an additional 1,905 shares during the period. Finally, Activest Wealth Management boosted its stake in Viking Therapeutics by 24.1% during the fourth quarter. Activest Wealth Management now owns 2,165 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $87,000 after buying an additional 420 shares during the period. 76.03% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

VKTX has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Piper Sandler reduced their target price 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. B. Riley reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $96.00 price objective (down previously from $109.00) on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a research note on Friday, February 7th. Scotiabank assumed coverage on Viking Therapeutics in a research note on Thursday. They set a “sector outperform” rating and a $102.00 target price on the stock. William Blair reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a research note on Wednesday, November 20th. Finally, Citigroup began coverage on Viking Therapeutics in a research report on Friday, February 7th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $38.00 price objective on the stock. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has assigned a hold rating, thirteen have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Viking Therapeutics has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $97.29.

Viking Therapeutics Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:VKTX opened at $30.48 on Friday. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $37.97 and a 200 day moving average of $52.85. Viking Therapeutics, Inc. has a 52 week low of $28.64 and a 52 week high of $99.41.

Viking Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VKTX) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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 previous year, the firm posted ($0.25) earnings per share. Equities research analysts predict that Viking Therapeutics, Inc. will post -1.41 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other news, COO Marianna Mancini sold 54,215 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, January 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $42.75, for a total transaction of $2,317,691.25. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 374,134 shares in the company, valued at approximately $15,994,228.50. This represents a 12.66 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Brian Lian sold 194,490 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, January 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $42.75, for a total value of $8,314,447.50. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2,366,570 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $101,170,867.50. The trade was a 7.59 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 299,014 shares of company stock worth $12,782,849. Corporate insiders own 4.70% of the company’s stock.

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.