25,258 Shares in Viking Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VKTX) Bought by Mediolanum International Funds Ltd

Key Points

• Mediolanum International Funds Ltd has acquired 25,258 shares of Viking Therapeutics, valued at approximately $648,000, as part of their 1st quarter investments.
• Viking Therapeutics stock analysts have varying opinions, with a consensus average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a target price of $86.92, indicating potential growth despite some recent downgrades.
• Insider selling reported at Viking Therapeutics includes the COO and CFO each selling 4,266 shares, with total insider sales reaching $984,405 over the last ninety days.

Mediolanum International Funds Ltd bought a new position in Viking Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VKTX - Free Report) in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund bought 25,258 shares of the biotechnology company's stock, valued at approximately $648,000.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Viking Therapeutics by 121.5% in the 1st quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. now owns 29,721 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $718,000 after acquiring an additional 16,302 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its stake in Viking Therapeutics by 9,209.9% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 24,392 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $589,000 after buying an additional 24,130 shares in the last quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. purchased a new stake in Viking Therapeutics in the fourth quarter worth about $429,000. LPL Financial LLC boosted its position in Viking Therapeutics by 18.2% during the 4th quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 96,702 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $3,891,000 after acquiring an additional 14,873 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Concurrent Investment Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Viking Therapeutics during the 1st quarter worth approximately $220,000. Institutional investors own 76.03% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO Brian Lian sold 26,889 shares of Viking Therapeutics stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, July 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $27.80, for a total value 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. The trade was a 1.11% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, COO Marianna Mancini sold 4,266 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, July 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $27.77, for a total transaction of $118,466.82. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer directly owned 377,535 shares of the company's stock, valued at $10,484,146.95. The trade was a 1.12% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In 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

NASDAQ VKTX traded up $0.52 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $33.09. The stock had a trading volume of 1,672,555 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,089,190. The stock has a market cap of $3.72 billion, a PE ratio of -21.62 and a beta of 0.62. Viking Therapeutics, Inc. has a 1 year low of $18.92 and a 1 year high of $81.73. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $28.95 and a 200 day moving average price of $28.57.

Viking Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VKTX - Get Free Report) last posted 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). During the same period last year, the company earned ($0.20) earnings per share. The company's revenue was up NaN% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Viking Therapeutics, Inc. will post -1.56 earnings per share for the current year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have recently commented on VKTX. Raymond James Financial lowered their target price on 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. Cantor Fitzgerald raised Viking Therapeutics to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 29th. HC Wainwright reaffirmed a "buy" rating and issued a $102.00 target price on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a research report on Wednesday, June 25th. Morgan Stanley lowered their price target on shares of Viking Therapeutics from $105.00 to $102.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 24th. Finally, Truist Financial restated a "buy" rating and issued a $75.00 price objective (down previously from $95.00) on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a report on Monday, April 28th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating, ten have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Viking Therapeutics currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $86.92.

About Viking Therapeutics

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.