Thrivent Financial for Lutherans Has $1.79 Million Stock Position in Viking Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VKTX)

Thrivent Financial for Lutherans boosted its stake in shares of Viking Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VKTX) by 2.7% in the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 28,251 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock after buying an additional 748 shares during the quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans’ holdings in Viking Therapeutics were worth $1,789,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Blue Trust Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Viking Therapeutics in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $26,000. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its position in Viking Therapeutics by 124.6% during the third quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 438 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $28,000 after acquiring an additional 243 shares in the last quarter. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. acquired a new stake in Viking Therapeutics in the second quarter valued at $27,000. Gilliland Jeter Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Viking Therapeutics in the 3rd quarter valued at about $32,000. Finally, Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV increased its stake in shares of Viking Therapeutics by 84.3% during the 3rd quarter. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV now owns 553 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $35,000 after purchasing an additional 253 shares during the last quarter. 76.03% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts recently commented on VKTX shares. StockNews.com upgraded Viking Therapeutics to a “sell” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 15th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. began coverage on Viking Therapeutics in a report on Wednesday, September 11th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $80.00 target price on the stock. B. Riley began coverage on Viking Therapeutics in a report on Friday, November 22nd. They set a “buy” rating and a $109.00 price target for the company. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $105.00 price objective on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a research report on Thursday, September 12th. Finally, William Blair reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a research report on Wednesday, November 20th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $109.73.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Viking Therapeutics news, CEO Brian Lian sold 216,130 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2,304,927 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $163,257,979.41. This trade represents a 8.57 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Lawson Macartney sold 2,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $68.67, for a total transaction of $137,340.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 47,965 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,293,756.55. This trade represents a 4.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 371,117 shares of company stock valued at $27,140,009 over the last 90 days. 4.70% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Viking Therapeutics Stock Performance

VKTX stock opened at $52.94 on Friday. Viking Therapeutics, Inc. has a 52 week low of $11.82 and a 52 week high of $99.41. The company has a market capitalization of $5.90 billion, a PE ratio of -56.92 and a beta of 1.00. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $62.77 and its 200 day simple moving average is $59.83.

Viking Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VKTX) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The biotechnology company reported ($0.22) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.24) by $0.02. During the same quarter last year, the business posted ($0.23) EPS. On average, analysts forecast that Viking Therapeutics, Inc. will post -0.98 EPS for the current year.

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.