Shelton Wealth Management LLC Takes $893,000 Position in Viking Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VKTX)

Shelton Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in Viking Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VKTX) during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor acquired 22,199 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock, valued at approximately $893,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of VKTX. Blue Trust Inc. acquired a new position in Viking Therapeutics during the third quarter worth about $26,000. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its stake in shares of Viking Therapeutics by 124.6% during the 3rd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 438 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $28,000 after purchasing an additional 243 shares in the last quarter. Stone House Investment Management LLC raised its holdings 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 worth $32,000 after acquiring an additional 200 shares during the last quarter. Gilliland Jeter Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Viking Therapeutics in the third quarter valued at approximately $32,000. Finally, Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV raised its holdings in Viking Therapeutics by 84.3% in the 3rd quarter. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV now owns 553 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $35,000 after acquiring an additional 253 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.03% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Lawson Macartney sold 2,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the director now directly owns 47,965 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,293,756.55. The trade was a 4.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Sarah Kathryn Rouan sold 11,000 shares of Viking Therapeutics stock in a transaction on Friday, October 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $80.89, for a total transaction of $889,790.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 9,500 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $768,455. This trade represents a 53.66 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 443,701 shares of company stock valued at $23,898,520. 4.70% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Viking Therapeutics Price Performance

VKTX opened at $32.65 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $3.64 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -35.11 and a beta of 0.95. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $46.21 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $55.99. Viking Therapeutics, Inc. has a 1-year low of $20.47 and a 1-year high of $99.41.

Viking Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VKTX) last issued its earnings results 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 firm earned ($0.23) EPS. Equities analysts expect that Viking Therapeutics, Inc. will post -0.97 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have commented on the company. StockNews.com upgraded Viking Therapeutics to a “sell” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 15th. HC Wainwright reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $102.00 price objective on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a research note on Friday. Piper Sandler started coverage on Viking Therapeutics in a research report on Monday, December 2nd. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $74.00 price objective on the stock. Oppenheimer restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $138.00 price target on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a report on Wednesday, September 25th. Finally, B. Riley assumed coverage on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a research report on Friday, November 22nd. They set a “buy” rating and a $109.00 target price on the stock. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Viking Therapeutics presently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $106.75.

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.