Engineers Gate Manager LP Makes New Investment in Viking Therapeutics, Inc. $VKTX

Key Points

• Engineers Gate Manager LP bought 46,735 shares of Viking Therapeutics worth approximately $1.82 million during the second quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds collectively own 76.03% of the company.
• Analysts maintain a generally positive outlook, with a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $96.62, despite mixed individual revisions ranging from $65 to $114.
• VKTX opened at $29.95, compared with a 12-month range of $22.96 to $43.15. The company reported quarterly EPS of negative $1.10, beating estimates of negative $1.21, while executives sold shares primarily to cover tax obligations on vested equity awards.

Engineers Gate Manager LP purchased a new stake in shares of Viking Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VKTX - Free Report) during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 46,735 shares of the biotechnology company's stock, valued at approximately $1,823,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the business. BlackRock Inc. bought a new stake in Viking Therapeutics in the second quarter worth $241,458,000. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in Viking Therapeutics by 24.0% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,994,509 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $70,183,000 after buying an additional 385,903 shares in the last quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets lifted its position in shares of Viking Therapeutics by 536.3% in the fourth quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 992,695 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $34,923,000 after buying an additional 836,686 shares during the last quarter. Artia Global Partners LP lifted its position in shares of Viking Therapeutics by 392.1% in the fourth quarter. Artia Global Partners LP now owns 719,365 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $25,307,000 after buying an additional 573,186 shares during the last quarter. Finally, ADAR1 Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Viking Therapeutics during the 2nd quarter worth about $22,393,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.03% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have recently commented on VKTX. Canaccord Genuity Group increased their price objective on Viking Therapeutics from $107.00 to $114.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, July 30th. Zacks Research raised Viking Therapeutics from a "strong sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 18th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price target on Viking Therapeutics from $75.00 to $65.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, August 11th. Truist Financial began coverage on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a research report on Wednesday, May 27th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $83.00 price target on the stock. Finally, Weiss Ratings reiterated a "sell (d-)" rating on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a research note on Friday, July 17th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have issued a Buy rating, two have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $96.62.

Viking Therapeutics Stock Performance

NASDAQ VKTX opened at $29.95 on Wednesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.49 billion, a PE ratio of -6.43 and a beta of 0.69. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $34.52 and a 200 day simple moving average of $33.51. Viking Therapeutics, Inc. has a twelve month low of $22.96 and a twelve month high of $43.15.

Viking Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VKTX - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 29th. The biotechnology company reported ($1.10) EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($1.21) by $0.11. The business's revenue was up .0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned ($0.58) earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Viking Therapeutics, Inc. will post -4.47 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In related news, CFO Greg Zante sold 21,217 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $33.47, for a total transaction of $710,132.99. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 212,204 shares in the company, valued at $7,102,467.88. This represents a 9.09% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Also, COO Marianna Mancini sold 18,217 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $33.47, for a total transaction of $609,722.99. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer directly owned 422,760 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $14,149,777.20. This trade represents a 4.13% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Over the last three months, insiders sold 187,951 shares of company stock valued at $6,268,442. 5.30% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Viking Therapeutics Profile

Viking Therapeutics, Inc is a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company focused on developing therapies for metabolic and endocrine disorders. The company's research programs target conditions including obesity, nonalcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH), metabolic dysfunction-associated steatohepatitis (MASH), dyslipidemia and other disorders involving hormone regulation and metabolism.

Viking's lead program is VK2735, an investigational dual agonist of the glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1) and glucose-dependent insulinotropic polypeptide (GIP) receptors being developed in injectable and oral formulations for obesity and related metabolic conditions.

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