Viking Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VKTX) Shares Bought by Verition Fund Management LLC

Verition Fund Management LLC boosted its stake in Viking Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VKTX) by 80.6% in the third quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 7,721 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock after acquiring an additional 3,446 shares during the quarter. Verition Fund Management LLC’s holdings in Viking Therapeutics were worth $489,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Blue Trust Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Viking Therapeutics during the 3rd quarter worth $26,000. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its stake in shares of Viking Therapeutics by 124.6% in the 3rd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 438 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $28,000 after purchasing an additional 243 shares in the last quarter. Gilliland Jeter Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Viking Therapeutics during the 3rd quarter worth about $32,000. Stone House Investment Management LLC increased its position in Viking Therapeutics by 66.7% during the 3rd quarter. Stone House Investment Management LLC now owns 500 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $32,000 after purchasing an additional 200 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV raised its holdings in Viking Therapeutics by 84.3% in the third quarter. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV now owns 553 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $35,000 after buying an additional 253 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.03% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Viking Therapeutics

In related news, CEO Brian Lian sold 216,130 shares of the 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 completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 2,304,927 shares in the company, valued at $163,257,979.41. This represents a 8.57 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CFO Greg Zante sold 131,687 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, October 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $76.61, for a total transaction of $10,088,541.07. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 149,366 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,442,929.26. The trade was a 46.85 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 371,117 shares of company stock worth $27,140,009. Company insiders own 4.70% of the company’s stock.

Viking Therapeutics Stock Up 2.8 %

VKTX opened at $49.21 on Thursday. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $60.36 and its 200 day moving average price is $58.68. Viking Therapeutics, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $16.70 and a fifty-two week high of $99.41. The firm has a market cap of $5.48 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -52.91 and a beta of 0.89.

Viking Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VKTX) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 23rd. The biotechnology company reported ($0.22) earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.24) by $0.02. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted ($0.23) earnings per share. Research analysts anticipate that Viking Therapeutics, Inc. will post -0.97 earnings per share for the current year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have recently commented on VKTX. StockNews.com raised shares of Viking Therapeutics to a “sell” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 15th. HC Wainwright restated a “buy” rating and set a $102.00 price objective on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a research note on Tuesday, November 26th. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $105.00 price objective on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a research report on Thursday, September 12th. William Blair reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a research note on Wednesday, November 20th. Finally, Oppenheimer restated an “outperform” rating and set a $138.00 target price on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a research note on Wednesday, September 25th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $106.75.

About Viking Therapeutics

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.