Stone House Investment Management LLC Raises Position in Viking Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VKTX)

Stone House Investment Management LLC raised its position in shares of Viking Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VKTX) by 66.7% during the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 500 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock after acquiring an additional 200 shares during the period. Stone House Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Viking Therapeutics were worth $32,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Blue Trust Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Viking Therapeutics during the third quarter worth $26,000. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. bought a new position in shares of Viking Therapeutics in the 2nd quarter worth $27,000. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its position in shares of Viking Therapeutics by 124.6% during the third quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 438 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $28,000 after buying an additional 243 shares during the last quarter. Gilliland Jeter Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Viking Therapeutics during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $32,000. Finally, Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV lifted its holdings in shares of Viking Therapeutics by 84.3% during the 3rd quarter. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV now owns 553 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $35,000 after purchasing an additional 253 shares during the last quarter. 76.03% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Viking Therapeutics news, CEO Brian Lian sold 216,130 shares of Viking Therapeutics stock in a transaction on Friday, September 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $70.83, for a total value of $15,308,487.90. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 2,304,927 shares in the company, valued at $163,257,979.41. This trade represents a 8.57 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, Director Lawson Macartney sold 2,000 shares of Viking Therapeutics stock in a transaction on Friday, November 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $68.67, for a total value of $137,340.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 47,965 shares in the company, valued at $3,293,756.55. The trade was a 4.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 371,117 shares of company stock valued at $27,140,009. Corporate insiders own 4.70% of the company’s stock.

Viking Therapeutics Price Performance

VKTX traded down $0.91 during trading on Wednesday, reaching $52.51. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 553,602 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,512,804. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $63.43 and its 200-day moving average price is $60.05. Viking Therapeutics, Inc. has a 52-week low of $11.55 and a 52-week high of $99.41.

Viking Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VKTX) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The biotechnology company reported ($0.22) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.24) by $0.02. During the same quarter last year, the company earned ($0.23) EPS. Research analysts anticipate that Viking Therapeutics, Inc. will post -0.98 earnings per share for the current year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have issued reports on VKTX shares. B. Riley started coverage on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a report on Friday, November 22nd. They issued a “buy” rating and a $109.00 price target for the company. StockNews.com upgraded Viking Therapeutics to a “sell” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 15th. Morgan Stanley reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $105.00 price objective on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a report on Thursday, September 12th. Oppenheimer reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $138.00 target price on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a research note on Wednesday, September 25th. Finally, HC Wainwright reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $102.00 price target on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a research report on Tuesday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Viking Therapeutics has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $109.73.

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.