Cantor Fitzgerald L. P. Purchases Shares of 9,450 Viking Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VKTX)

Cantor Fitzgerald L. P. acquired a new position in Viking Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VKTX - Free Report) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 9,450 shares of the biotechnology company's stock, valued at approximately $380,000.

Other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. S.A. Mason LLC raised its position in shares of Viking Therapeutics by 20.0% in the fourth 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 in the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. raised its holdings in 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 acquiring an additional 309 shares in the last quarter. Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich lifted its position in shares of Viking Therapeutics by 7.4% during the 4th quarter. Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich now owns 4,980 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $221,000 after acquiring an additional 345 shares during the period. Arizona State Retirement System grew its holdings in shares of Viking Therapeutics by 1.2% during the 4th quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 28,929 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $1,164,000 after purchasing an additional 353 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Activest Wealth Management increased its position in shares of Viking Therapeutics by 24.1% in the fourth quarter. Activest Wealth Management now owns 2,165 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $87,000 after purchasing an additional 420 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 76.03% of the company's stock.

Viking Therapeutics Price Performance

NASDAQ VKTX traded down $0.24 on Friday, reaching $27.61. The company had a trading volume of 1,731,343 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,108,528. The firm has a market cap of $3.10 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -27.61 and a beta of 0.75. Viking Therapeutics, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $18.92 and a fifty-two week high of $81.73. The business has a 50 day moving average of $26.19 and a two-hundred day moving average of $37.98.

Viking Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VKTX - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 23rd. The biotechnology company reported ($0.41) earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.31) by ($0.10). The company's revenue was up .0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned ($0.26) earnings per share. As a group, research analysts predict that Viking Therapeutics, Inc. will post -1.56 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

VKTX has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Truist Financial reiterated a "buy" rating and set a $75.00 price objective (down from $95.00) on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a research note on Monday, April 28th. The Goldman Sachs Group started coverage on Viking Therapeutics in a research note on Tuesday, April 8th. They set a "neutral" rating and a $30.00 target price for the company. Scotiabank assumed coverage on Viking Therapeutics in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. They issued a "sector outperform" rating and a $102.00 price target on the stock. Citigroup started coverage on Viking Therapeutics in a research report on Friday, February 7th. They issued a "neutral" rating and a $38.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Raymond James raised their price target on shares of Viking Therapeutics from $122.00 to $125.00 and gave the company a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. 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 assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $87.15.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Sarah Kathryn Rouan acquired 1,240 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the director now directly owns 1,240 shares in the company, valued at $29,946. This represents a ∞ increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Company insiders own 4.10% of the company's stock.

About Viking Therapeutics

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.