AlphaQuest LLC Acquires 9,815 Shares of Viking Therapeutics, Inc. $VKTX

Key Points

• AlphaQuest LLC significantly increased its holdings in Viking Therapeutics, acquiring 9,815 shares to boost its ownership by 506.4% in the first quarter, now totaling 11,753 shares valued at $284,000.
• A number of institutional investors, including HighMark Wealth Management and Deutsche Bank AG, have also raised their stakes in Viking Therapeutics, contributing to a total of 76.03% of the stock being owned by institutional investors.
• Analysts have mixed views on Viking Therapeutics, with price targets ranging from $31.00 to $125.00, leading to an average rating of "Buy" and a price target of $86.92.

AlphaQuest LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Viking Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VKTX - Free Report) by 506.4% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 11,753 shares of the biotechnology company's stock after acquiring an additional 9,815 shares during the period. AlphaQuest LLC's holdings in Viking Therapeutics were worth $284,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. HighMark Wealth Management LLC raised its stake 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 valued at $113,000 after purchasing an additional 400 shares during the period. Xponance Inc. raised its stake 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 valued at $349,000 after purchasing an additional 446 shares during the period. Deutsche Bank AG raised its stake 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 valued at $167,000 after purchasing an additional 484 shares during the period. Knights of Columbus Asset Advisors LLC raised its stake 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 valued at $452,000 after purchasing an additional 497 shares during the period. Finally, Parallel Advisors LLC raised its stake 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 valued at $33,000 after purchasing an additional 536 shares during the period. 76.03% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

VKTX has been the topic of several recent research reports. HC Wainwright reissued a "buy" rating and issued a $102.00 price target on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a research note on Tuesday, August 19th. Citigroup lifted their price target 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 dropped their price target 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 equities 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. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Viking Therapeutics presently has an average rating of "Buy" and an average price target of $86.92.

Viking Therapeutics Stock Performance

NASDAQ:VKTX opened at $27.58 on Friday. The stock's 50-day simple moving average is $31.17 and its 200 day simple moving average is $28.52. The company has a market cap of $3.10 billion, a P/E ratio of -18.03 and a beta of 0.67. 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 released its earnings results on Wednesday, July 23rd. The biotechnology company reported ($0.58) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of ($0.44) by ($0.14). The company's quarterly revenue was up NaN% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business earned ($0.20) earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts predict that Viking Therapeutics, Inc. will post -1.56 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Viking Therapeutics

In related news, 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 sale, the chief financial officer owned 168,660 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $4,682,001.60. The trade was a 2.47% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Brian Lian sold 26,889 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, July 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $27.80, for a total value of $747,514.20. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 2,388,014 shares in the company, valued at approximately $66,386,789.20. This trade represents a 1.11% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 35,421 shares of company stock valued at $984,405. 4.10% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest and most accurate reporting. This story was reviewed by MarketBeat's editorial team prior to publication. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.