Vontobel Holding Ltd. Has $384,000 Stock Position in Viking Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VKTX)

Vontobel Holding Ltd. grew its stake in shares of Viking Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VKTX) by 17.8% during the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 6,059 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock after buying an additional 915 shares during the period. Vontobel Holding Ltd.’s holdings in Viking Therapeutics were worth $384,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its holdings 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 acquiring an additional 243 shares during the last quarter. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Viking Therapeutics during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $27,000. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV increased its holdings 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 acquiring an additional 253 shares during the last quarter. Meeder Asset Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Viking Therapeutics by 140.8% during the 2nd quarter. Meeder Asset Management Inc. now owns 802 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $43,000 after acquiring an additional 469 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Quest Partners LLC boosted its stake in Viking Therapeutics by 123.8% in the 2nd quarter. Quest Partners LLC now owns 1,258 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $67,000 after purchasing an additional 696 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.03% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Brian Lian sold 115,859 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $57.58, for a total value of $6,671,161.22. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 2,354,927 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $135,596,696.66. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In related news, Director J Matthew Singleton sold 5,700 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $69.72, for a total transaction of $397,404.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 9,500 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $662,340. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Brian Lian sold 115,859 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $57.58, for a total value of $6,671,161.22. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2,354,927 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $135,596,696.66. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 516,671 shares of company stock valued at $33,810,813. Company insiders own 4.70% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

VKTX has been the subject of several recent research reports. HC Wainwright restated a “buy” rating and issued a $90.00 price target on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a research note on Wednesday, October 9th. Raymond James boosted their price target on Viking Therapeutics from $116.00 to $118.00 and gave the company a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 25th. StockNews.com upgraded Viking Therapeutics to a “sell” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 15th. Morgan Stanley restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $105.00 price target on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a research note on Thursday, September 12th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. initiated coverage on Viking Therapeutics in a research note on Wednesday, September 11th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $80.00 price target for the company. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $108.60.

Viking Therapeutics Stock Down 3.6 %

Shares of VKTX opened at $62.03 on Wednesday. The stock has a market cap of $6.84 billion, a PE ratio of -66.70 and a beta of 1.00. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $62.76 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $61.77. Viking Therapeutics, Inc. has a 12-month low of $8.28 and a 12-month high of $99.41.

Viking Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VKTX) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 24th. The biotechnology company reported ($0.20) earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.26) by $0.06. During the same period last year, the firm posted ($0.19) earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts expect that Viking Therapeutics, Inc. will post -1 EPS for the current 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.