Stoneridge Investment Partners LLC Takes $225,000 Position in Viking Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VKTX)

Stoneridge Investment Partners LLC acquired a new position in Viking Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VKTX) during the second quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor acquired 4,240 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock, valued at approximately $225,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV acquired a new position in shares of Viking Therapeutics during the 1st quarter worth $25,000. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. acquired a new position in Viking Therapeutics during the second quarter worth $27,000. Lindbrook Capital LLC raised its holdings in Viking Therapeutics by 370.7% during the first quarter. Lindbrook Capital LLC now owns 353 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $29,000 after buying an additional 278 shares in the last quarter. LifeSteps Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Viking Therapeutics in the first quarter worth about $37,000. Finally, Meeder Asset Management Inc. boosted its stake 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 in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 76.03% of the company’s stock.

Viking Therapeutics Stock Up 6.2 %

VKTX stock opened at $66.73 on Friday. Viking Therapeutics, Inc. has a twelve month low of $8.28 and a twelve month high of $99.41. The company has a market cap of $7.39 billion, a PE ratio of -71.75 and a beta of 1.00. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $58.00 and its 200 day simple moving average is $64.08.

Viking Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VKTX) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 24th. The biotechnology company reported ($0.20) EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.26) by $0.06. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted ($0.19) earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Viking Therapeutics, Inc. will post -0.99 EPS for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Viking Therapeutics news, COO Marianna Mancini sold 18,026 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $57.13, for a total value of $1,029,825.38. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 362,149 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $20,689,572.37. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In related news, Director J Matthew Singleton sold 20,786 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $57.53, for a total value of $1,195,818.58. Following the sale, the director now owns 9,500 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $546,535. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, COO Marianna Mancini sold 18,026 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $57.13, for a total value of $1,029,825.38. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 362,149 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $20,689,572.37. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 290,241 shares of company stock worth $17,786,475 over the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 4.70% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms recently weighed in on VKTX. HC Wainwright restated a “buy” rating and issued a $90.00 target price on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a report on Thursday, July 25th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Viking Therapeutics to a “sell” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. began coverage on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a research note on Wednesday. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $80.00 target price on the stock. Truist Financial reissued a “buy” rating and set a $120.00 target price on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a research report on Monday, June 17th. Finally, Maxim Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $120.00 price target on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a research report on Tuesday, June 4th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $108.60.

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.