Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA Increases Stock Position in Viking Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VKTX)

Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA increased its position in shares of Viking Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VKTX) by 4.9% during the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 248,269 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock after purchasing an additional 11,668 shares during the quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA’s holdings in Viking Therapeutics were worth $15,718,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. International Assets Investment Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Viking Therapeutics by 10,775.6% in the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 1,004,033 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $63,565,000 after buying an additional 994,801 shares during the last quarter. Perpetual Ltd boosted its position in 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 purchasing an additional 452,344 shares during the last quarter. Fiera Capital Corp bought a new position in Viking Therapeutics in the 3rd quarter valued at $18,443,000. Artal Group S.A. purchased a new stake in shares of Viking Therapeutics during the 1st quarter valued at $20,817,000. Finally, Nepsis Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Viking Therapeutics during the 3rd quarter worth $11,251,000. 76.03% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Viking Therapeutics Stock Down 1.1 %

Shares of VKTX opened at $51.99 on Tuesday. Viking Therapeutics, Inc. has a twelve month low of $11.55 and a twelve month high of $99.41. The stock has a market cap of $5.79 billion, a PE ratio of -55.90 and a beta of 1.00. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $63.43 and its 200-day moving average price is $60.05.

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Sarah Kathryn Rouan sold 11,000 shares of the firm’s 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 owns 9,500 shares in the company, valued at approximately $768,455. This trade represents a 53.66 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Lawson Macartney sold 2,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction 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 completion of the transaction, the director now owns 47,965 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,293,756.55. This trade represents a 4.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 371,117 shares of company stock worth $27,140,009. Corporate insiders own 4.70% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts recently issued reports on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. initiated coverage on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a report on Wednesday, September 11th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $80.00 price objective for the company. William Blair reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a report on Wednesday, November 20th. Oppenheimer reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $138.00 price objective on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a report on Wednesday, September 25th. HC Wainwright boosted their target price on Viking Therapeutics from $90.00 to $102.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, November 4th. Finally, Morgan Stanley reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $105.00 price target on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a research note on Thursday, September 12th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Viking Therapeutics has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $109.73.

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.