348,970 Shares in Viking Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VKTX) Bought by Lisanti Capital Growth LLC

Lisanti Capital Growth LLC purchased a new stake in Viking Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VKTX) during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund purchased 348,970 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,494,000. Viking Therapeutics makes up 1.5% of Lisanti Capital Growth LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 15th largest holding.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Viking Therapeutics by 3.4% during the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 5,284,352 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $58,498,000 after acquiring an additional 171,995 shares in the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Viking Therapeutics by 59.6% in the 3rd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 2,202,228 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $24,379,000 after buying an additional 822,156 shares in the last quarter. Deerfield Management Company L.P. Series C lifted its position in shares of Viking Therapeutics by 13.7% during the 3rd quarter. Deerfield Management Company L.P. Series C now owns 1,279,000 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $14,159,000 after buying an additional 154,000 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. boosted its stake in Viking Therapeutics by 4.7% in the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 864,589 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $9,571,000 after buying an additional 38,695 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its position in Viking Therapeutics by 194.6% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 765,320 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $8,472,000 after acquiring an additional 505,578 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.03% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Viking Therapeutics

In other Viking Therapeutics news, CEO Brian Lian sold 269,079 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $26.87, for a total transaction of $7,230,152.73. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 2,184,882 shares in the company, valued at approximately $58,707,779.34. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In related news, CFO Greg Zante sold 66,756 shares of Viking Therapeutics stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $74.69, for a total transaction of $4,986,005.64. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 174,854 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $13,059,845.26. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Brian Lian sold 269,079 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $26.87, for a total transaction of $7,230,152.73. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 2,184,882 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $58,707,779.34. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 642,260 shares of company stock valued at $35,054,299. 4.70% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group began coverage on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a research note on Thursday, March 7th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $110.00 target price on the stock. Truist Financial raised their price objective on shares of Viking Therapeutics from $32.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, February 29th. William Blair reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a report on Friday, February 23rd. HC Wainwright reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $90.00 price target on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a report on Thursday, April 25th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $80.00 price objective on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a research note on Friday, March 15th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $112.25.

Viking Therapeutics Trading Up 1.6 %

Shares of VKTX traded up $1.24 during trading hours on Monday, hitting $78.21. 3,195,374 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 5,441,898. The business has a fifty day moving average of $73.19 and a 200-day moving average of $37.89. The firm has a market capitalization of $8.62 billion, a PE ratio of -79.86 and a beta of 1.12. Viking Therapeutics, Inc. has a 1-year low of $8.28 and a 1-year high of $99.41.

Viking Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VKTX) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, April 24th. The biotechnology company reported ($0.26) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.27) by $0.01. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted ($0.25) earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Viking Therapeutics, Inc. will post -1.08 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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.