Caas Capital Management LP Purchases 26,000 Shares of Viking Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VKTX)

Caas Capital Management LP raised its holdings in shares of Viking Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VKTX - Free Report) by 151.1% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 43,207 shares of the biotechnology company's stock after purchasing an additional 26,000 shares during the period. Caas Capital Management LP's holdings in Viking Therapeutics were worth $1,043,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Arizona State Retirement System lifted its holdings in shares of Viking Therapeutics by 1.2% in the 4th quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 28,929 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $1,164,000 after purchasing an additional 353 shares during the last quarter. HighMark Wealth Management LLC raised its position in Viking Therapeutics by 9.4% in the first quarter. HighMark Wealth Management LLC now owns 4,660 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $113,000 after purchasing an additional 400 shares during the period. WealthTrust Asset Management LLC increased its position in shares of Viking Therapeutics by 6.7% during the fourth quarter. WealthTrust Asset Management LLC now owns 6,923 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $279,000 after acquiring an additional 437 shares during the last quarter. Xponance Inc. increased its holdings in Viking Therapeutics by 3.2% in the first quarter. Xponance Inc. now owns 14,470 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $349,000 after buying an additional 446 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Parallel Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Viking Therapeutics by 64.8% during the first quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 1,363 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $33,000 after purchasing an additional 536 shares during the last quarter. 76.03% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have issued reports on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group began coverage on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a research note on Tuesday, April 8th. They set a "neutral" rating and a $30.00 target price on the stock. Truist Financial reaffirmed a "buy" rating and set a $75.00 target price (down previously from $95.00) on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a report on Monday, April 28th. HC Wainwright reaffirmed a "buy" rating and issued a $102.00 target price on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a research note on Wednesday, June 25th. Morgan Stanley dropped their target price on shares of Viking Therapeutics from $105.00 to $102.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 24th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald upgraded shares of Viking Therapeutics to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 29th. One research 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 company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $87.15.

Viking Therapeutics Price Performance

NASDAQ:VKTX traded down $0.18 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $31.11. The company's stock had a trading volume of 2,829,639 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,058,336. The firm has a market cap of $3.49 billion, a P/E ratio of -27.05 and a beta of 0.62. Viking Therapeutics, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $18.92 and a fifty-two week high of $81.73. The firm's 50 day moving average is $27.61 and its 200-day moving average is $29.38.

Viking Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VKTX - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results 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). The firm's revenue was up .0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted ($0.26) EPS. As a group, analysts forecast that Viking Therapeutics, Inc. will post -1.56 EPS for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Viking Therapeutics

In other Viking Therapeutics news, COO Marianna Mancini sold 4,266 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, July 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $27.77, for a total value of $118,466.82. Following the sale, the chief operating officer directly 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 sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Brian Lian sold 26,889 shares of the company's 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 transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 2,388,014 shares in the company, valued at approximately $66,386,789.20. The trade was a 1.11% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 35,421 shares of company stock valued at $984,405 in the last 90 days. 4.10% of the stock is currently owned by 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.