Viking Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VKTX) Shares Purchased by Montag A & Associates Inc.

Montag A & Associates Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Viking Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VKTX) by 8.0% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 10,901 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock after acquiring an additional 807 shares during the quarter. Montag A & Associates Inc.’s holdings in Viking Therapeutics were worth $439,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of VKTX. FMR LLC grew its stake in Viking Therapeutics by 0.5% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 16,619,430 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $1,052,176,000 after buying an additional 79,149 shares during the last quarter. Braidwell LP grew its position in shares of Viking Therapeutics by 4.5% during the third quarter. Braidwell LP now owns 1,156,977 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $73,248,000 after acquiring an additional 50,072 shares during the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC raised its position in Viking Therapeutics by 10,775.6% in the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 1,004,033 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $63,565,000 after purchasing an additional 994,801 shares during the last quarter. Westfield Capital Management Co. LP boosted its stake in Viking Therapeutics by 18.3% during the 3rd quarter. Westfield Capital Management Co. LP now owns 930,370 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $58,902,000 after purchasing an additional 143,675 shares during the period. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its position in Viking Therapeutics by 6.6% during the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 715,597 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $45,304,000 after purchasing an additional 44,122 shares during the last quarter. 76.03% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

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

Viking Therapeutics Stock Performance

Shares of VKTX opened at $30.48 on Tuesday. Viking Therapeutics, Inc. has a one year low of $28.64 and a one year high of $99.41. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $37.57 and a 200 day moving average price of $52.65. The company has a market capitalization of $3.40 billion, a P/E ratio of -30.48 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 (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.27) by ($0.05). During the same quarter last year, the business posted ($0.25) EPS. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Viking Therapeutics, Inc. will post -1.41 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. B. Riley reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $96.00 target price (down previously from $109.00) on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a research note on Friday, February 7th. Raymond James lifted their target price on Viking Therapeutics from $122.00 to $125.00 and gave the company a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Piper Sandler cut their price target on Viking Therapeutics from $74.00 to $71.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. William Blair reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a research report on Wednesday, November 20th. Finally, Maxim Group cut 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. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has issued a hold rating, thirteen have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Viking Therapeutics currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $97.29.

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.