HighMark Wealth Management LLC Acquires 1,260 Shares of Viking Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VKTX)

HighMark Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in Viking Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VKTX) by 42.0% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 4,260 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,260 shares during the period. HighMark Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Viking Therapeutics were worth $171,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Oak Ridge Investments LLC bought a new stake in shares of Viking Therapeutics in the third quarter valued at approximately $837,000. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Viking Therapeutics by 43.5% during the 3rd quarter. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. now owns 102,324 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $6,478,000 after purchasing an additional 31,011 shares during the last quarter. Nvwm LLC bought a new stake in shares of Viking Therapeutics in the 3rd quarter valued at about $999,000. Chartwell Investment Partners LLC grew its holdings in shares of Viking Therapeutics by 88.0% in the third quarter. Chartwell Investment Partners LLC now owns 36,666 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $2,322,000 after purchasing an additional 17,159 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Stifel Financial Corp increased its position in shares of Viking Therapeutics by 92.1% in the third quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 131,348 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $8,316,000 after acquiring an additional 62,956 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 76.03% of the company’s stock.

Viking Therapeutics Price Performance

Viking Therapeutics stock opened at $30.48 on Tuesday. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $37.57 and a two-hundred day moving average of $52.65. Viking Therapeutics, Inc. has a 1 year low of $28.64 and a 1 year high of $99.41.

Viking Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VKTX) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 5th. The biotechnology company reported ($0.32) EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.27) by ($0.05). During the same period in the prior year, the company earned ($0.25) EPS. Equities analysts forecast that Viking Therapeutics, Inc. will post -1.41 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Viking Therapeutics news, CFO Greg Zante sold 50,309 shares of Viking Therapeutics stock in a transaction on 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 completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 165,259 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,064,822.25. The trade was a 23.34 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction 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 company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, January 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $42.75, for a total value of $2,317,691.25. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 374,134 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $15,994,228.50. The trade was a 12.66 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 299,014 shares of company stock valued at $12,782,849. 4.70% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently commented on VKTX. William Blair reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a report on Wednesday, November 20th. HC Wainwright reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $102.00 price target on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Piper Sandler decreased their price objective on shares of Viking Therapeutics from $74.00 to $71.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Raymond James increased 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 note on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, Citigroup started coverage on Viking Therapeutics in a research report on Friday, February 7th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $38.00 price target for the company. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has assigned a hold rating, thirteen have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $97.29.

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.