Viking Therapeutics, Inc. $VKTX Holdings Boosted by 683 Capital Management LLC

Key Points

• 683 Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in Viking Therapeutics, Inc. by 8.9% in Q1, now owning approximately 0.27% of the company with a market value of $7.37 million.
• Analysts have mixed views on the stock, with a consensus rating of "Buy" and a target price averaging $86.92, while recent reports resulted in adjustments to previous target prices.
• Corporate insiders have sold a total of 35,421 shares recently, reflecting a trend of insider selling, yet they still own 4.10% of the company shares.

683 Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Viking Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VKTX - Free Report) by 8.9% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 305,000 shares of the biotechnology company's stock after purchasing an additional 25,000 shares during the period. 683 Capital Management LLC owned approximately 0.27% of Viking Therapeutics worth $7,366,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in VKTX. HighMark Wealth Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Viking Therapeutics by 9.4% in the 1st quarter. HighMark Wealth Management LLC now owns 4,660 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $113,000 after acquiring an additional 400 shares during the period. Xponance Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Viking Therapeutics by 3.2% in the 1st quarter. Xponance Inc. now owns 14,470 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $349,000 after acquiring an additional 446 shares during the period. Deutsche Bank AG grew its holdings in shares of Viking Therapeutics by 7.5% in the 1st quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 6,911 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $167,000 after acquiring an additional 484 shares during the period. Knights of Columbus Asset Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Viking Therapeutics by 2.7% in the 1st quarter. Knights of Columbus Asset Advisors LLC now owns 18,729 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $452,000 after acquiring an additional 497 shares during the period. Finally, Parallel Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Viking Therapeutics by 64.8% in the 1st quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 1,363 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $33,000 after acquiring an additional 536 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.03% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on the company. HC Wainwright reaffirmed a "buy" rating and issued a $102.00 target price on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a research note on Tuesday, August 19th. Citigroup upped their target price on Viking Therapeutics from $31.00 to $38.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 24th. Finally, Raymond James Financial reduced their target price on Viking Therapeutics from $125.00 to $122.00 and set a "strong-buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, July 24th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have assigned a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and a consensus target price of $86.92.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Brian Lian sold 26,889 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, July 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $27.80, for a total transaction of $747,514.20. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 2,388,014 shares in the company, valued at $66,386,789.20. This trade represents a 1.11% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CFO Greg Zante sold 4,266 shares of Viking Therapeutics stock in a transaction dated Thursday, July 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $27.76, for a total value of $118,424.16. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 168,660 shares of the company's stock, valued at $4,682,001.60. This trade represents a 2.47% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 35,421 shares of company stock worth $984,405 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 4.10% of the company's stock.

Viking Therapeutics Stock Performance

Shares of VKTX traded up $0.45 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $26.98. The stock had a trading volume of 5,240,439 shares, compared to its average volume of 9,570,530. The firm has a market cap of $3.03 billion, a P/E ratio of -17.63 and a beta of 0.73. The company's fifty day simple moving average is $31.22 and its 200 day simple moving average is $28.40. Viking Therapeutics, Inc. has a 12-month low of $18.92 and a 12-month high of $81.73.

Viking Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VKTX - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, July 23rd. The biotechnology company reported ($0.58) earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.44) by ($0.14). During the same period last year, the firm earned ($0.20) earnings per share. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up NaN% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Viking Therapeutics, Inc. will post -1.56 earnings per share for the current fiscal 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.