Institute for Wealth Management LLC. Purchases 9,735 Shares of Viking Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VKTX)

Institute for Wealth Management LLC. grew its position in shares of Viking Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VKTX - Free Report) by 12.1% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 90,337 shares of the biotechnology company's stock after buying an additional 9,735 shares during the quarter. Institute for Wealth Management LLC. owned 0.08% of Viking Therapeutics worth $2,182,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in VKTX. Van ECK Associates Corp lifted its position in Viking Therapeutics by 58.0% in the 4th quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 14,911 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $600,000 after acquiring an additional 5,475 shares in the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. raised its stake in shares of Viking Therapeutics by 363.1% in the fourth quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 1,885 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $76,000 after purchasing an additional 1,478 shares during the last quarter. State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D lifted its holdings in shares of Viking Therapeutics by 8.5% during the fourth quarter. State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D now owns 40,753 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $1,640,000 after purchasing an additional 3,192 shares in the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Viking Therapeutics by 5.9% during the fourth quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 628,764 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $25,301,000 after buying an additional 35,236 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Truist Financial Corp increased its holdings in Viking Therapeutics by 27.6% in the 4th quarter. Truist Financial Corp now owns 8,840 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $356,000 after buying an additional 1,912 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 76.03% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have issued reports on VKTX shares. HC Wainwright restated a "buy" rating and set a $102.00 target price on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a research note on Thursday, April 24th. The Goldman Sachs Group assumed coverage on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a research report on Tuesday, April 8th. They set a "neutral" rating and a $30.00 price objective on the stock. Truist Financial reaffirmed a "buy" rating and issued a $75.00 target price (down previously from $95.00) on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a research report on Monday, April 28th. Cantor Fitzgerald upgraded shares of Viking Therapeutics to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 29th. Finally, Morgan Stanley dropped their price target on Viking Therapeutics from $105.00 to $102.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 24th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating, ten have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $87.15.

Viking Therapeutics Stock Performance

NASDAQ:VKTX opened at $26.28 on Thursday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $26.73 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $31.61. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.95 billion, a PE ratio of -22.85 and a beta of 0.65. 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 quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 23rd. The biotechnology company reported ($0.41) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of ($0.31) by ($0.10). The firm's revenue for the quarter was up .0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted ($0.26) earnings per share. 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, Director Sarah Kathryn Rouan purchased 1,240 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Monday, March 31st. The stock was acquired at an average price of $24.15 per share, for a total transaction of $29,946.00. Following the purchase, the director now owns 1,240 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $29,946. This represents a ∞ increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Insiders own 4.10% of the company's stock.

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.

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