Quantum Private Wealth LLC Acquires 7,161 Shares of Viking Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VKTX)

Quantum Private Wealth LLC increased its holdings in Viking Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VKTX) by 9.3% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 84,084 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock after acquiring an additional 7,161 shares during the quarter. Viking Therapeutics makes up 1.8% of Quantum Private Wealth LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 10th biggest position. Quantum Private Wealth LLC owned 0.08% of Viking Therapeutics worth $5,323,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Viking Therapeutics by 44.7% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 7,785,724 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $638,429,000 after purchasing an additional 2,403,820 shares during the last quarter. Avoro Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Viking Therapeutics in the first quarter worth $294,380,000. Perpetual Ltd increased its stake in shares of Viking Therapeutics by 55.4% in the third quarter. Perpetual Ltd now owns 1,269,152 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $80,350,000 after acquiring an additional 452,344 shares during the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Viking Therapeutics by 10,775.6% in the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 1,004,033 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $63,565,000 after acquiring an additional 994,801 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Hood River Capital Management LLC increased its position in Viking Therapeutics by 6.3% during the second quarter. Hood River Capital Management LLC now owns 714,578 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $37,880,000 after buying an additional 42,650 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.03% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. initiated coverage on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a research note on Wednesday, September 11th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $80.00 target price for the company. Oppenheimer reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $138.00 price target on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a research report on Wednesday, September 25th. Morgan Stanley reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $105.00 price target on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a research report on Thursday, September 12th. HC Wainwright boosted their price objective on shares of Viking Therapeutics from $90.00 to $102.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded shares of Viking Therapeutics to a “sell” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 15th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $109.80.

Viking Therapeutics Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:VKTX opened at $70.20 on Friday. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $64.68 and its 200-day moving average price is $61.85. The firm has a market capitalization of $7.82 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -74.03 and a beta of 1.00. Viking Therapeutics, Inc. has a one year low of $9.34 and a one year high of $99.41.

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director J Matthew Singleton sold 20,786 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $57.53, for a total transaction of $1,195,818.58. Following the sale, the director now owns 9,500 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $546,535. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. In related news, CEO Brian Lian sold 1,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $69.90, for a total value of $69,900.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 2,354,927 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $164,609,397.30. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director J Matthew Singleton sold 20,786 shares of Viking Therapeutics stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $57.53, for a total transaction of $1,195,818.58. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 9,500 shares in the company, valued at $546,535. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 525,473 shares of company stock worth $37,088,158 in the last three months. 4.70% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.