Raiffeisen Bank International AG Takes $477,000 Position in Viking Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VKTX)

Raiffeisen Bank International AG purchased a new stake in Viking Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VKTX - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm purchased 12,000 shares of the biotechnology company's stock, valued at approximately $477,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Viking Therapeutics during the 4th quarter valued at about $51,464,000. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA grew its position in shares of Viking Therapeutics by 446.7% in the fourth quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 1,357,241 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $54,615,000 after purchasing an additional 1,108,972 shares during the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. grew its position in shares of Viking Therapeutics by 228.5% in the fourth quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 1,479,596 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $59,540,000 after purchasing an additional 1,029,125 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Viking Therapeutics during the 4th quarter worth approximately $24,888,000. Finally, Man Group plc raised its position in shares of Viking Therapeutics by 3,373.4% during the 4th quarter. Man Group plc now owns 448,732 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $18,057,000 after purchasing an additional 435,813 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.03% of the company's stock.

Viking Therapeutics Price Performance

NASDAQ VKTX traded down $1.42 on Wednesday, reaching $27.25. The company had a trading volume of 2,521,685 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,083,179. Viking Therapeutics, Inc. has a 1 year low of $18.92 and a 1 year high of $81.73. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $26.09 and a 200-day moving average of $35.74. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.06 billion, a PE ratio of -27.25 and a beta of 0.75.

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have commented on VKTX shares. Scotiabank assumed coverage on Viking Therapeutics in a report on Thursday, February 13th. They set a "sector outperform" rating and a $102.00 target price on the stock. Morgan Stanley dropped their price objective on Viking Therapeutics from $105.00 to $102.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 24th. The Goldman Sachs Group began coverage on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a research note on Tuesday, April 8th. They issued a "neutral" rating and a $30.00 target price for the company. Truist Financial reiterated a "buy" rating and set a $75.00 price target (down from $95.00) on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a report on Monday, April 28th. Finally, Raymond James boosted their price objective on shares of Viking Therapeutics from $122.00 to $125.00 and gave the company a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. 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 issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $87.15.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Viking Therapeutics news, Director Sarah Kathryn Rouan bought 1,240 shares of Viking Therapeutics stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 31st. The stock was bought at an average cost of $24.15 per share, for a total transaction of $29,946.00. Following the purchase, the director now owns 1,240 shares in the company, valued at $29,946. This represents a ∞ increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 4.10% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.