PKO Investment Management Joint Stock Co Makes New Investment in Viking Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VKTX)

PKO Investment Management Joint Stock Co purchased a new position in shares of Viking Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VKTX - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 15,000 shares of the biotechnology company's stock, valued at approximately $604,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of VKTX. FMR LLC boosted its holdings in Viking Therapeutics by 0.6% during the 4th quarter. FMR LLC now owns 16,715,438 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $672,629,000 after acquiring an additional 96,008 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Viking Therapeutics by 0.9% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,880,713 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $75,704,000 after buying an additional 17,046 shares during the period. Braidwell LP boosted its stake in shares of Viking Therapeutics by 27.9% in the 4th quarter. Braidwell LP now owns 1,479,666 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $59,542,000 after buying an additional 322,689 shares during the period. Ameriprise Financial Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Viking Therapeutics by 228.5% in the 4th quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 1,479,596 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $59,540,000 after buying an additional 1,029,125 shares during the period. Finally, Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA boosted its stake in shares of Viking Therapeutics by 446.7% in the 4th quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 1,357,241 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $54,615,000 after buying an additional 1,108,972 shares during the period. 76.03% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Viking Therapeutics news, Director Sarah Kathryn Rouan acquired 1,240 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 31st. The shares were purchased at an average price of $24.15 per share, with a total value of $29,946.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now directly owns 1,240 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $29,946. The trade was a ∞ increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. 4.10% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on VKTX shares. Piper Sandler decreased their price objective on Viking Therapeutics from $74.00 to $71.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Scotiabank initiated coverage on Viking Therapeutics in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. They set a "sector outperform" rating and a $102.00 target price on the stock. B. Riley reissued a "buy" rating and set a $96.00 target price (down previously from $109.00) on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a research report on Friday, February 7th. HC Wainwright reissued a "buy" rating and set a $102.00 target price on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a research report on Thursday, April 24th. Finally, Morgan Stanley cut their target price on Viking Therapeutics from $105.00 to $102.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 24th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating, ten have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $87.15.

Viking Therapeutics Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:VKTX traded down $1.18 during trading on Friday, reaching $26.98. The company had a trading volume of 2,842,888 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,081,647. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.03 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -26.98 and a beta of 0.75. The stock's fifty day moving average price is $25.76 and its 200 day moving average price is $33.87. Viking Therapeutics, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $18.92 and a fifty-two 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 for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of ($0.31) by ($0.10). During the same period in the previous year, the business earned ($0.26) earnings per share. The company's quarterly revenue was up .0% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Viking Therapeutics, Inc. will post -1.56 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Viking Therapeutics Company 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.