Viking Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VKTX) Shares Purchased by Apis Capital Advisors LLC

Apis Capital Advisors LLC grew its stake in Viking Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VKTX - Free Report) by 24.7% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 96,000 shares of the biotechnology company's stock after acquiring an additional 19,000 shares during the quarter. Viking Therapeutics comprises about 2.6% of Apis Capital Advisors LLC's portfolio, making the stock its 12th biggest position. Apis Capital Advisors LLC owned approximately 0.09% of Viking Therapeutics worth $3,863,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in VKTX. S.A. Mason LLC raised its stake in shares of Viking Therapeutics by 20.0% during the 4th quarter. S.A. Mason LLC now owns 1,800 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $72,000 after buying an additional 300 shares during the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Viking Therapeutics by 75.9% in the 4th quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 716 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 309 shares during the period. Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich boosted its holdings in Viking Therapeutics by 7.4% during the fourth quarter. Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich now owns 4,980 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $221,000 after buying an additional 345 shares in the last quarter. Arizona State Retirement System grew its position in Viking Therapeutics by 1.2% during the fourth quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 28,929 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $1,164,000 after buying an additional 353 shares during the period. Finally, Activest Wealth Management increased its holdings in Viking Therapeutics by 24.1% in the fourth quarter. Activest Wealth Management now owns 2,165 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $87,000 after buying an additional 420 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.03% of the company's stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Sarah Kathryn Rouan purchased 1,240 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Monday, March 31st. The stock was bought at an average cost of $24.15 per share, for a total transaction of $29,946.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now directly owns 1,240 shares of the company's stock, valued at $29,946. The trade was a ∞ increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 4.10% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Viking Therapeutics Stock Performance

VKTX stock traded down $2.48 during trading on Tuesday, reaching $27.01. 4,007,522 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 4,104,706. The stock's 50 day moving average price is $26.18 and its 200 day moving average price is $38.70. Viking Therapeutics, Inc. has a 52-week low of $18.92 and a 52-week high of $81.86. The company has a market cap of $3.03 billion, a P/E ratio of -27.01 and a beta of 0.75.

Viking Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VKTX - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 23rd. The biotechnology company reported ($0.41) EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of ($0.31) by ($0.10). The firm's revenue for the quarter was up .0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm posted ($0.26) EPS. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Viking Therapeutics, Inc. will post -1.56 EPS for the current year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

VKTX has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Citigroup started coverage on Viking Therapeutics in a research note on Friday, February 7th. They issued a "neutral" rating and a $38.00 price target for the company. Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on shares of Viking Therapeutics from $105.00 to $102.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 24th. HC Wainwright reissued a "buy" rating and set a $102.00 target price on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a research note on Thursday, April 24th. Cantor Fitzgerald upgraded Viking Therapeutics to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 29th. Finally, Scotiabank assumed coverage on Viking Therapeutics in a report on Thursday, February 13th. They issued a "sector outperform" rating and a $102.00 price objective on the stock. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating, ten have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $87.15.

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.