Virtu Financial LLC Acquires Shares of 42,613 Viking Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VKTX)

Virtu Financial LLC bought a new position in Viking Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VKTX) during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund bought 42,613 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,715,000.

Other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. FMR LLC grew its holdings in Viking Therapeutics by 0.5% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 16,619,430 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $1,052,176,000 after buying an additional 79,149 shares in the last quarter. Braidwell LP boosted its position in shares of Viking Therapeutics by 4.5% during the 3rd quarter. Braidwell LP now owns 1,156,977 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $73,248,000 after acquiring an additional 50,072 shares during the last quarter. Westfield Capital Management Co. LP grew its holdings in shares of Viking Therapeutics by 18.3% in the third quarter. Westfield Capital Management Co. LP now owns 930,370 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $58,902,000 after purchasing an additional 143,675 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Viking Therapeutics by 1.8% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 728,652 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $29,321,000 after purchasing an additional 13,055 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its stake in Viking Therapeutics by 5.9% during the fourth quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 628,764 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $25,301,000 after purchasing an additional 35,236 shares in the last quarter. 76.03% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Viking Therapeutics Price Performance

Shares of VKTX opened at $28.95 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.25 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -28.95 and a beta of 0.90. The company has a 50-day moving average of $31.04 and a 200 day moving average of $47.59. Viking Therapeutics, Inc. has a 1-year low of $24.41 and a 1-year high of $89.10.

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have commented on VKTX shares. B. Riley reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $96.00 price objective (down from $109.00) on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a research note on Friday, February 7th. HC Wainwright restated a “buy” rating and set a $102.00 price objective on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a research report on Tuesday, March 11th. Scotiabank began coverage on Viking Therapeutics in a report on Thursday, February 13th. They issued a “sector outperform” rating and a $102.00 target price for the company. Citigroup started coverage on Viking Therapeutics in a research report on Friday, February 7th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $38.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Raymond James raised their price target on Viking Therapeutics from $122.00 to $125.00 and gave the stock a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has assigned a hold rating, eleven have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $97.67.

Insider Transactions at Viking Therapeutics

In other news, CFO Greg Zante sold 50,309 shares of the company’s 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 $2,150,709.75. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now 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 is accessible through this link. Also, 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 transaction of $2,317,691.25. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 374,134 shares in the company, valued at approximately $15,994,228.50. The trade was a 12.66 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 299,014 shares of company stock valued at $12,782,849. 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.