Raiffeisen Bank International AG Makes New $477,000 Investment in Viking Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VKTX)

Raiffeisen Bank International AG acquired a new stake in Viking Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VKTX - Free Report) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 12,000 shares of the biotechnology company's stock, valued at approximately $477,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of VKTX. Blue Trust Inc. grew its position in shares of Viking Therapeutics by 75.9% in the fourth quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 716 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 309 shares during the last quarter. YANKCOM Partnership bought a new position in shares of Viking Therapeutics during the fourth quarter worth approximately $33,000. FIL Ltd raised its position in shares of Viking Therapeutics by 116.8% in the fourth quarter. FIL Ltd now owns 1,203 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $48,000 after buying an additional 648 shares in the last quarter. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC boosted its stake in shares of Viking Therapeutics by 170.2% in the fourth quarter. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC now owns 1,351 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $55,000 after buying an additional 851 shares during the period. Finally, Kapitalo Investimentos Ltda acquired a new stake in Viking Therapeutics during the fourth quarter worth approximately $63,000. Institutional investors own 76.03% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have weighed in on VKTX shares. The Goldman Sachs Group started coverage on Viking Therapeutics in a report on Tuesday, April 8th. They issued a "neutral" rating and a $30.00 price objective for the company. B. Riley reaffirmed a "buy" rating and set a $96.00 price objective (down previously from $109.00) on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on shares of Viking Therapeutics from $105.00 to $102.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 24th. Citigroup started coverage on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a research report on Friday, February 7th. They issued a "neutral" rating and a $38.00 target price for the company. Finally, Raymond James upped their price target on shares of Viking Therapeutics from $122.00 to $125.00 and gave the stock a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Thursday, February 6th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating, ten have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $87.15.

Viking Therapeutics Trading Down 2.0%

NASDAQ:VKTX traded down $0.56 on Friday, hitting $27.18. The company had a trading volume of 679,902 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,064,906. Viking Therapeutics, Inc. has a 52 week low of $18.92 and a 52 week high of $81.73. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.05 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -27.22 and a beta of 0.75. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $25.97 and a two-hundred day moving average of $35.44.

Viking Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VKTX - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 23rd. The biotechnology company reported ($0.41) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.31) by ($0.10). During the same period in the prior year, the business posted ($0.26) EPS. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up .0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Viking Therapeutics, Inc. will post -1.56 EPS for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Viking Therapeutics news, Director Sarah Kathryn Rouan bought 1,240 shares of Viking Therapeutics stock in a transaction on Monday, March 31st. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $24.15 per share, with a total value of $29,946.00. Following the acquisition, the director now directly owns 1,240 shares of the company's stock, valued at $29,946. The trade was a ∞ increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Insiders own 4.10% of the company's stock.

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.