Viking Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VKTX) Shares Bought by Stone House Investment Management LLC

Stone House Investment Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Viking Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VKTX) by 66.7% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 500 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock after buying an additional 200 shares during the period. Stone House Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Viking Therapeutics were worth $32,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Oak Ridge Investments LLC acquired a new position in Viking Therapeutics during the third quarter worth about $837,000. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Viking Therapeutics by 43.5% during the third quarter. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. now owns 102,324 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $6,478,000 after buying an additional 31,011 shares in the last quarter. Nvwm LLC acquired a new position in shares of Viking Therapeutics in the 3rd quarter valued at about $999,000. Chartwell Investment Partners LLC increased its stake in Viking Therapeutics by 88.0% in the 3rd quarter. Chartwell Investment Partners LLC now owns 36,666 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $2,322,000 after buying an additional 17,159 shares during the period. Finally, Aptus Capital Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Viking Therapeutics by 34.1% in the third quarter. Aptus Capital Advisors LLC now owns 38,143 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $2,415,000 after acquiring an additional 9,699 shares during the last quarter. 76.03% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have recently commented on VKTX. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Viking Therapeutics to a “sell” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 15th. Oppenheimer reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $138.00 price target on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a report on Wednesday, September 25th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. began coverage on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a research report on Wednesday, September 11th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $80.00 price objective for the company. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $105.00 target price on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a research report on Thursday, September 12th. Finally, HC Wainwright reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $102.00 price objective on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a report on Tuesday. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $109.73.

Insider Buying and Selling at Viking Therapeutics

In other Viking Therapeutics news, CEO Brian Lian sold 216,130 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 2,304,927 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $163,257,979.41. This represents a 8.57 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Lawson Macartney sold 2,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, November 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $68.67, for a total transaction of $137,340.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 47,965 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,293,756.55. This represents a 4.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 371,117 shares of company stock valued at $27,140,009. 4.70% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Viking Therapeutics Stock Down 1.7 %

NASDAQ VKTX traded down $0.91 on Wednesday, hitting $52.51. 553,602 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 4,512,804. Viking Therapeutics, Inc. has a 1-year low of $11.55 and a 1-year high of $99.41. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $63.43 and a two-hundred day moving average of $60.05.

Viking Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VKTX) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The biotechnology company reported ($0.22) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.24) by $0.02. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted ($0.23) earnings per share. On average, research analysts expect that Viking Therapeutics, Inc. will post -0.98 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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.