ADAR1 Capital Management LLC Boosts Stake in Viking Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VKTX)

ADAR1 Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of Viking Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VKTX) by 31.0% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 9,300 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock after buying an additional 2,200 shares during the quarter. ADAR1 Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Viking Therapeutics were worth $374,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in VKTX. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company raised its position in shares of Viking Therapeutics by 20.3% during the 3rd quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 24,630 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $1,559,000 after buying an additional 4,156 shares in the last quarter. Verition Fund Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Viking Therapeutics by 80.6% during the third quarter. Verition Fund Management LLC now owns 7,721 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $489,000 after buying an additional 3,446 shares during the period. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Viking Therapeutics in the third quarter worth approximately $308,000. Stifel Financial Corp boosted its holdings in Viking Therapeutics by 92.1% during the 3rd 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. Finally, National Bank of Canada FI lifted its position in shares of Viking Therapeutics by 2,265.3% during the third quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 3,548 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $225,000 after purchasing an additional 3,398 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 76.03% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on the company. B. Riley reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $96.00 target price (down from $109.00) on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Piper Sandler lowered their price objective on shares of Viking Therapeutics from $74.00 to $71.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Raymond James raised their target price on Viking Therapeutics from $122.00 to $125.00 and gave the stock a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. HC Wainwright restated a “buy” rating and issued a $102.00 price objective on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a research note on Wednesday, March 26th. Finally, 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 on the stock. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has assigned a hold rating, ten have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Viking Therapeutics currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $95.18.

Viking Therapeutics Price Performance

Shares of VKTX stock opened at $22.62 on Monday. The company has a 50-day moving average of $29.32 and a two-hundred day moving average of $45.06. Viking Therapeutics, Inc. has a 1-year low of $20.20 and a 1-year high of $81.86. The firm has a market cap of $2.54 billion, a PE ratio of -22.62 and a beta of 0.84.

Viking Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VKTX) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 5th. The biotechnology company reported ($0.32) earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.27) by ($0.05). During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted ($0.25) EPS. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Viking Therapeutics, Inc. will post -1.56 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Sarah Kathryn Rouan purchased 1,240 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 31st. The shares were purchased at an average price of $24.15 per share, for a total transaction of $29,946.00. Following the purchase, the director now directly owns 1,240 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $29,946. This represents a ∞ increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Company insiders own 4.70% of the company’s stock.

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.