460,415 Shares in Viking Therapeutics, Inc. $VKTX Acquired by Jump Financial LLC

Key Points

• Jump Financial LLC purchased 460,415 shares of Viking Therapeutics (~$12.2M), representing about 0.41% of the company, and other institutions—including a new Norges Bank stake of ~$46.8M—help push institutional ownership to roughly 76%.
• Insiders have been net sellers (CEO sold 38,989 shares; CFO sold 6,185; insiders sold 111,359 shares worth ~$3.93M in the last 90 days) while the stock trades around $38.55 with a $4.36B market cap; analysts hold a Moderate Buy consensus and an average price target of $87.14 despite recent negative EPS.

Jump Financial LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Viking Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VKTX - Free Report) during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm purchased 460,415 shares of the biotechnology company's stock, valued at approximately $12,201,000. Jump Financial LLC owned about 0.41% of Viking Therapeutics as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Viking Therapeutics in the 2nd quarter valued at $46,846,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. lifted its position in Viking Therapeutics by 4.7% during the 1st quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. now owns 647,391 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $15,634,000 after acquiring an additional 28,922 shares during the last quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. boosted its holdings in Viking Therapeutics by 59.2% during the first quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. now owns 597,515 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $14,430,000 after acquiring an additional 222,293 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp grew its position in shares of Viking Therapeutics by 0.5% in the first quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 538,636 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $13,008,000 after purchasing an additional 2,652 shares during the last quarter. Finally, UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC increased its stake in shares of Viking Therapeutics by 1.4% in the first quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 470,028 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $11,351,000 after purchasing an additional 6,696 shares during the period. 76.03% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Viking Therapeutics Trading Down 0.1%

VKTX opened at $38.55 on Monday. The stock's 50 day simple moving average is $34.81 and its 200-day simple moving average is $31.06. The stock has a market cap of $4.36 billion, a PE ratio of -18.18 and a beta of 0.65. Viking Therapeutics, Inc. has a 1 year low of $18.92 and a 1 year high of $51.92.

Viking Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VKTX - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 22nd. The biotechnology company reported ($0.81) earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of ($0.67) by ($0.14). The business's quarterly revenue was up .0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted ($0.22) EPS. Equities analysts forecast that Viking Therapeutics, Inc. will post -1.56 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Viking Therapeutics

In other Viking Therapeutics news, CEO Brian Lian sold 38,989 shares of Viking Therapeutics stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, October 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $35.01, for a total transaction of $1,365,004.89. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 2,419,109 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $84,693,006.09. The trade was a 1.59% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CFO Greg Zante sold 6,185 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, October 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $35.00, for a total value of $216,475.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 173,592 shares of the company's stock, valued at $6,075,720. This represents a 3.44% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold a total of 111,359 shares of company stock valued at $3,932,155 in the last 90 days. Insiders own 4.10% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts recently weighed in on the company. Cantor Fitzgerald set a $105.00 target price on Viking Therapeutics in a research note on Thursday, October 23rd. Canaccord Genuity Group upped their price target on Viking Therapeutics from $106.00 to $107.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, November 12th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price objective on shares of Viking Therapeutics from $80.00 to $75.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, October 24th. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on shares of Viking Therapeutics from $98.00 to $102.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, October 23rd. Finally, B. Riley raised shares of Viking Therapeutics to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Thursday, October 23rd. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have given a Buy rating, three have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $87.14.

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.

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