Stoneridge Investment Partners LLC Raises Stake in Viking Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VKTX)

Stoneridge Investment Partners LLC raised its holdings in shares of Viking Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VKTX) by 19.4% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 5,061 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock after buying an additional 821 shares during the quarter. Stoneridge Investment Partners LLC’s holdings in Viking Therapeutics were worth $204,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Creative Planning raised its holdings in shares of Viking Therapeutics by 3.4% during the second quarter. Creative Planning now owns 15,753 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $835,000 after purchasing an additional 524 shares during the last quarter. Truist Financial Corp raised its stake in shares of Viking Therapeutics by 357.1% during the 2nd quarter. Truist Financial Corp now owns 26,049 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $1,381,000 after buying an additional 20,350 shares during the last quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers lifted its holdings in shares of Viking Therapeutics by 114.0% in the 2nd quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 49,311 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $2,614,000 after buying an additional 26,270 shares during the period. Sanctuary Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Viking Therapeutics in the 2nd quarter valued at about $190,000. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its stake in shares of Viking Therapeutics by 124.6% in the third quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 438 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $28,000 after buying an additional 243 shares during the last quarter. 76.03% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Viking Therapeutics Stock Performance

VKTX stock opened at $32.56 on Friday. Viking Therapeutics, Inc. has a 1 year low of $25.34 and a 1 year high of $99.41. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $40.05 and a 200-day simple moving average of $53.90.

Viking Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VKTX) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The biotechnology company reported ($0.32) EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.27) by ($0.05). During the same period last year, the firm posted ($0.25) earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Viking Therapeutics, Inc. will post -1.41 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have commented on VKTX shares. Piper Sandler lowered their price objective on Viking Therapeutics from $74.00 to $71.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday. Raymond James upped their price objective on shares of Viking Therapeutics from $122.00 to $125.00 and gave the stock a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday. Citigroup started coverage on Viking Therapeutics in a report on Friday. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $38.00 price target for the company. HC Wainwright reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $102.00 price objective on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a report on Thursday. Finally, Maxim Group reduced their target price on Viking Therapeutics from $120.00 to $70.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has given a hold rating, twelve have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $96.92.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CFO Greg Zante sold 50,309 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, January 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $42.75, for a total value of $2,150,709.75. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 165,259 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,064,822.25. The trade was a 23.34 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, COO Marianna Mancini sold 54,215 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, January 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $42.75, for a total transaction of $2,317,691.25. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 374,134 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $15,994,228.50. This trade represents a 12.66 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 299,014 shares of company stock valued at $12,782,849 over the last ninety days. Company insiders own 4.70% of the company’s stock.

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.