Runnymede Capital Advisors Inc. Acquires New Position in Viking Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VKTX)

Runnymede Capital Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in Viking Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VKTX) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm acquired 6,290 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock, valued at approximately $253,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in VKTX. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new position in Viking Therapeutics during the fourth quarter worth about $24,888,000. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. grew its holdings in Viking Therapeutics by 137.0% in the fourth quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. now owns 375,222 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $15,099,000 after purchasing an additional 216,873 shares during the period. Eventide Asset Management LLC grew its stake in Viking Therapeutics by 79.1% during the third quarter. Eventide Asset Management LLC now owns 452,969 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $28,677,000 after buying an additional 200,000 shares during the period. Westfield Capital Management Co. LP grew its stake in Viking Therapeutics by 18.3% during the third quarter. Westfield Capital Management Co. LP now owns 930,370 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $58,902,000 after buying an additional 143,675 shares during the period. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its stake in Viking Therapeutics by 29.9% during the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 593,528 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $37,576,000 after buying an additional 136,729 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.03% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

VKTX has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. HC Wainwright reissued a “buy” rating and set a $102.00 target price on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a research report on Tuesday, March 11th. Piper Sandler cut their price target on shares of Viking Therapeutics from $74.00 to $71.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Citigroup began 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. B. Riley reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $96.00 price target (down from $109.00) on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a report on Friday, February 7th. Finally, Maxim Group cut their price target on shares of Viking Therapeutics from $120.00 to $70.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, February 7th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has assigned a hold rating, eleven have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Viking Therapeutics currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $97.67.

Viking Therapeutics Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:VKTX opened at $28.95 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.25 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -28.95 and a beta of 0.90. Viking Therapeutics, Inc. has a 1-year low of $24.41 and a 1-year high of $89.10. The company’s fifty day moving average is $31.04 and its two-hundred day moving average is $47.66.

Viking Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VKTX) last released 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 period last year, the business earned ($0.25) EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that Viking Therapeutics, Inc. will post -1.56 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, COO Marianna Mancini sold 54,215 shares of Viking Therapeutics stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $42.75, for a total value of $2,317,691.25. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now 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 sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Brian Lian sold 194,490 shares of Viking Therapeutics stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $42.75, for a total transaction of $8,314,447.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2,366,570 shares in the company, valued at $101,170,867.50. This represents a 7.59 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 299,014 shares of company stock valued at $12,782,849 in the last quarter. 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.