MN Wealth Advisors LLC Acquires New Stake in Viking Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VKTX)

MN Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Viking Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VKTX) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor acquired 5,900 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock, valued at approximately $237,000.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Quantum Private Wealth LLC increased its stake in shares of Viking Therapeutics by 2.2% in the 4th quarter. Quantum Private Wealth LLC now owns 85,916 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $3,457,000 after acquiring an additional 1,832 shares during the last quarter. Montag A & Associates Inc. increased its stake 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 worth $439,000 after acquiring an additional 807 shares during the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. increased its stake 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 acquiring an additional 1,478 shares during the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp increased its stake in shares of Viking Therapeutics by 58.0% in the 4th quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 14,911 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $600,000 after acquiring an additional 5,475 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Legato Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Viking Therapeutics by 36.0% in the 4th quarter. Legato Capital Management LLC now owns 7,200 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $290,000 after acquiring an additional 1,905 shares during the last quarter. 76.03% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Viking Therapeutics Price Performance

Shares of Viking Therapeutics stock opened at $30.48 on Friday. The business has a 50-day moving average of $37.97 and a 200 day moving average of $52.85. Viking Therapeutics, Inc. has a 12 month low of $28.64 and a 12 month high of $99.41. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.40 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -30.48 and a beta of 0.90.

Viking Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VKTX) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The biotechnology company reported ($0.32) EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.27) by ($0.05). During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted ($0.25) earnings per share. Equities research analysts anticipate that Viking Therapeutics, Inc. will post -1.41 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other news, CFO Greg Zante sold 50,309 shares of Viking Therapeutics stock in a transaction dated Monday, January 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $42.75, for a total value of $2,150,709.75. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 165,259 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,064,822.25. This trade represents a 23.34 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Brian Lian sold 194,490 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2,366,570 shares in the company, valued at $101,170,867.50. This trade represents a 7.59 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 299,014 shares of company stock worth $12,782,849. 4.70% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

VKTX has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Citigroup initiated coverage on Viking Therapeutics in a research note on Friday, February 7th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $38.00 target price for the company. Scotiabank initiated coverage on Viking Therapeutics in a research note on Thursday. They issued a “sector outperform” rating and a $102.00 target price for the company. B. Riley reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $96.00 price target (down from $109.00) on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a report on Friday, February 7th. Raymond James increased their price target on Viking Therapeutics from $122.00 to $125.00 and gave the stock a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, Maxim Group lowered their price target on Viking Therapeutics from $120.00 to $70.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, February 7th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has given a hold rating, thirteen have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Viking Therapeutics presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $97.29.

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.