Viking Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VKTX) Shares Bought by Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc.

Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. raised its stake in Viking Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VKTX - Free Report) by 121.5% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 29,721 shares of the biotechnology company's stock after acquiring an additional 16,302 shares during the quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc.'s holdings in Viking Therapeutics were worth $718,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. FIL Ltd raised its holdings 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 worth $48,000 after acquiring an additional 648 shares during the last quarter. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC increased its stake in 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 purchasing an additional 851 shares during the last quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC lifted its position in Viking Therapeutics by 64.8% during the first quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 1,363 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $33,000 after buying an additional 536 shares during the period. Kapitalo Investimentos Ltda purchased a new position in Viking Therapeutics during the fourth quarter worth about $63,000. Finally, AlphaQuest LLC lifted its position in Viking Therapeutics by 79.4% during the fourth quarter. AlphaQuest LLC now owns 1,938 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $78,000 after buying an additional 858 shares during the period. 76.03% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Viking Therapeutics Stock Performance

VKTX stock opened at $27.51 on Tuesday. Viking Therapeutics, Inc. has a 1 year low of $18.92 and a 1 year high of $81.73. The firm has a market cap of $3.09 billion, a P/E ratio of -23.92 and a beta of 0.62. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $27.45 and a 200-day simple moving average of $29.52.

Viking Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VKTX - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results 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). During the same quarter last year, the business posted ($0.26) earnings per share. The company's revenue for the quarter was up .0% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts predict that Viking Therapeutics, Inc. will post -1.56 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other news, CFO Greg Zante sold 4,266 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, July 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $27.76, for a total value of $118,424.16. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer owned 168,660 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,682,001.60. This trade represents a 2.47% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, COO Marianna Mancini sold 4,266 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, July 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $27.77, for a total value of $118,466.82. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer owned 377,535 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $10,484,146.95. This trade represents a 1.12% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 35,421 shares of company stock worth $984,405. 4.10% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

VKTX has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. HC Wainwright reiterated a "buy" rating and set a $102.00 target price on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a research report on Wednesday, June 25th. Truist Financial reiterated a "buy" rating and set a $75.00 target price (down from $95.00) on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a research report on Monday, April 28th. Cantor Fitzgerald upgraded Viking Therapeutics to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 29th. The Goldman Sachs Group initiated coverage on Viking Therapeutics in a research report on Tuesday, April 8th. They set a "neutral" rating and a $30.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Morgan Stanley reduced 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 investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating, ten have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $87.15.

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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