E Fund Management Co. Ltd. Buys 2,992 Shares of Viking Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VKTX)

E Fund Management Co. Ltd. increased its stake in Viking Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VKTX) by 18.4% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 19,272 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,992 shares during the period. E Fund Management Co. Ltd.’s holdings in Viking Therapeutics were worth $776,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of VKTX. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in Viking Therapeutics during the 4th quarter worth $24,888,000. Fiera Capital Corp acquired a new stake in Viking Therapeutics during the 3rd quarter worth $18,443,000. Eventide Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in Viking Therapeutics by 79.1% during the 3rd quarter. Eventide Asset Management LLC now owns 452,969 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $28,677,000 after acquiring an additional 200,000 shares during the period. Westfield Capital Management Co. LP grew its holdings in Viking Therapeutics by 18.3% during the 3rd quarter. Westfield Capital Management Co. LP now owns 930,370 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $58,902,000 after acquiring an additional 143,675 shares during the period. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its holdings in Viking Therapeutics by 29.9% during the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 593,528 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $37,576,000 after acquiring an additional 136,729 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.03% of the company’s stock.

Viking Therapeutics Trading Up 1.5 %

VKTX opened at $29.10 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.27 billion, a P/E ratio of -29.10 and a beta of 0.90. Viking Therapeutics, Inc. has a 12 month low of $24.41 and a 12 month high of $89.10. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $33.63 and its 200 day simple moving average is $50.34.

Viking Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VKTX) last issued 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 in the previous year, the company earned ($0.25) EPS. On average, equities research analysts predict that Viking Therapeutics, Inc. will post -1.56 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have commented on VKTX shares. Scotiabank initiated coverage on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a report on Thursday, February 13th. They set a “sector outperform” rating and a $102.00 target price for the company. HC Wainwright reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $102.00 price target on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Raymond James boosted their price target on shares of Viking Therapeutics from $122.00 to $125.00 and gave the company a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Citigroup initiated coverage on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a report on Friday, February 7th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $38.00 price target for the company. Finally, Piper Sandler decreased their price target 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. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has assigned a hold rating, twelve have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $96.31.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CFO Greg Zante sold 50,309 shares of the company’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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,064,822.25. This represents a 23.34 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Brian Lian sold 194,490 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, January 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $42.75, for a total transaction of $8,314,447.50. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2,366,570 shares in the company, valued at approximately $101,170,867.50. The trade was a 7.59 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 299,014 shares of company stock valued at $12,782,849 in the last three months. 4.70% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.