Viking Therapeutics, Inc. $VKTX Shares Purchased by ADAR1 Capital Management LLC

Key Points

• ADAR1 Capital Management LLC significantly increased its stake in Viking Therapeutics by 538.8%, acquiring an additional 50,113 shares, bringing its total holdings to 59,413 shares valued at approximately $1,435,000.
• Viking Therapeutics's quarterly earnings fell short of expectations, reporting a loss of ($0.58) per share, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.44) by $0.14.
• The stock has seen increased activity from institutional investors, with 76.03% of shares currently owned by such entities, reflecting growing interest in Viking Therapeutics amidst mixed analyst ratings.

ADAR1 Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Viking Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VKTX - Free Report) by 538.8% in the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 59,413 shares of the biotechnology company's stock after purchasing an additional 50,113 shares during the quarter. ADAR1 Capital Management LLC owned approximately 0.05% of Viking Therapeutics worth $1,435,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Braidwell LP boosted its stake in shares of Viking Therapeutics by 27.9% during the fourth quarter. Braidwell LP now owns 1,479,666 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $59,542,000 after purchasing an additional 322,689 shares during the period. Ameriprise Financial Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Viking Therapeutics by 228.5% during the fourth quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 1,479,596 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $59,540,000 after purchasing an additional 1,029,125 shares during the period. Raymond James Financial Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Viking Therapeutics by 4.7% during the first quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. now owns 647,391 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $15,634,000 after purchasing an additional 28,922 shares during the period. Frontier Capital Management Co. LLC boosted its stake in shares of Viking Therapeutics by 2.8% during the fourth quarter. Frontier Capital Management Co. LLC now owns 597,739 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $24,053,000 after purchasing an additional 16,321 shares during the period. Finally, Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. boosted its stake in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 222,293 shares during the period. 76.03% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Viking Therapeutics news, COO Marianna Mancini sold 4,266 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, July 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $27.77, for a total value of $118,466.82. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer directly owned 377,535 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,484,146.95. The trade was a 1.12% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CFO Greg Zante sold 4,266 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, July 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $27.76, for a total transaction of $118,424.16. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 168,660 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,682,001.60. This trade represents a 2.47% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 35,421 shares of company stock worth $984,405. 4.10% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Viking Therapeutics Price Performance

Viking Therapeutics stock traded up $0.45 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $26.98. The stock had a trading volume of 5,240,439 shares, compared to its average volume of 9,570,530. The company has a market cap of $3.03 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -17.63 and a beta of 0.73. The business's 50 day moving average price is $31.22 and its 200-day moving average price is $28.40. Viking Therapeutics, Inc. has a 52 week low of $18.92 and a 52 week high of $81.73.

Viking Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VKTX - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, July 23rd. The biotechnology company reported ($0.58) EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of ($0.44) by ($0.14). The firm's quarterly revenue was up NaN% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company posted ($0.20) EPS. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Viking Therapeutics, Inc. will post -1.56 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

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

Viking Therapeutics 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.