Aquatic Capital Management LLC Buys New Position in Viking Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VKTX)

Aquatic Capital Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Viking Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VKTX - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund bought 209,134 shares of the biotechnology company's stock, valued at approximately $8,416,000. Aquatic Capital Management LLC owned about 0.19% of Viking Therapeutics at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. FMR LLC raised its stake in Viking Therapeutics by 0.6% during the 4th quarter. FMR LLC now owns 16,715,438 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $672,629,000 after buying an additional 96,008 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in Viking Therapeutics by 0.9% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,880,713 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $75,704,000 after buying an additional 17,046 shares during the period. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA raised its stake in Viking Therapeutics by 446.7% during the 4th quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 1,357,241 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $54,615,000 after buying an additional 1,108,972 shares during the period. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Viking Therapeutics during the 4th quarter worth approximately $51,464,000. Finally, Alliancebernstein L.P. increased its holdings in Viking Therapeutics by 7.9% during the 4th quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 1,115,068 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $44,870,000 after purchasing an additional 81,183 shares in the last quarter. 76.03% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Viking Therapeutics

In related news, Director Sarah Kathryn Rouan bought 1,240 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 31st. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $24.15 per share, with a total value of $29,946.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now owns 1,240 shares in the company, valued at approximately $29,946. The trade was a ∞ increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Insiders own 4.10% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have commented on VKTX shares. Raymond James boosted their price objective on Viking Therapeutics from $122.00 to $125.00 and gave the stock a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Piper Sandler decreased their price objective on Viking Therapeutics from $74.00 to $71.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Cantor Fitzgerald raised Viking Therapeutics to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Tuesday. B. Riley reaffirmed a "buy" rating and issued a $96.00 target price (down from $109.00) on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a report on Friday, February 7th. Finally, Morgan Stanley reduced their target price on Viking Therapeutics from $105.00 to $102.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 24th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating, ten have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $87.15.

Viking Therapeutics Stock Performance

NASDAQ:VKTX traded up $0.93 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, reaching $28.87. The stock had a trading volume of 5,235,364 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,096,974. Viking Therapeutics, Inc. has a one year low of $18.92 and a one year high of $81.86. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $26.27 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $39.98. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.24 billion, a P/E ratio of -28.87 and a beta of 0.84.

Viking Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VKTX - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, April 23rd. The biotechnology company reported ($0.41) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.31) by ($0.10). Viking Therapeutics's revenue for the quarter was up .0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned ($0.26) earnings per share. Research analysts forecast that Viking Therapeutics, Inc. will post -1.56 earnings per share for the current year.

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.