Formidable Asset Management LLC Increases Holdings in Viking Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VKTX)

Formidable Asset Management LLC grew its position in Viking Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VKTX - Free Report) by 32.1% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 40,768 shares of the biotechnology company's stock after acquiring an additional 9,896 shares during the period. Formidable Asset Management LLC's holdings in Viking Therapeutics were worth $985,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in VKTX. FMR LLC raised its position in shares of Viking Therapeutics by 0.6% in the fourth quarter. FMR LLC now owns 16,715,438 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $672,629,000 after buying an additional 96,008 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Viking Therapeutics by 0.9% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,880,713 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $75,704,000 after purchasing an additional 17,046 shares during the period. Braidwell LP raised its holdings in shares of Viking Therapeutics by 27.9% during the fourth quarter. Braidwell LP now owns 1,479,666 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $59,542,000 after purchasing an additional 322,689 shares during the period. Ameriprise Financial Inc. increased its holdings 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 worth $59,540,000 after acquiring an additional 1,029,125 shares during the period. Finally, Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA grew its position in 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 in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.03% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on VKTX shares. Truist Financial reissued a "buy" rating and issued a $75.00 price target (down previously from $95.00) on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a research report on Monday, April 28th. The Goldman Sachs Group assumed coverage on Viking Therapeutics in a report on Tuesday, April 8th. They set a "neutral" rating and a $30.00 target price on the stock. HC Wainwright reiterated a "buy" rating and issued a $102.00 target price on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a report on Wednesday, June 25th. Cantor Fitzgerald upgraded Viking Therapeutics to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 29th. Finally, 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 report on Thursday, April 24th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating, ten have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $87.15.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Viking Therapeutics news, CEO Brian Lian sold 26,889 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, July 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $27.80, for a total transaction of $747,514.20. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 2,388,014 shares in the company, valued at approximately $66,386,789.20. This represents a 1.11% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CFO Greg Zante sold 4,266 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, July 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $27.76, for a total transaction of $118,424.16. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 168,660 shares in the company, valued at $4,682,001.60. The trade was a 2.47% 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 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 4.10% of the company's stock.

Viking Therapeutics Stock Performance

NASDAQ VKTX traded up $0.16 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $32.10. The company had a trading volume of 2,802,825 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,066,988. Viking Therapeutics, Inc. has a 1-year low of $18.92 and a 1-year high of $81.73. The company has a market cap of $3.61 billion, a PE ratio of -27.91 and a beta of 0.62. The business has a 50 day moving average of $27.98 and a 200-day moving average of $28.89.

Viking Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VKTX - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data 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 quarter in the prior year, the business posted ($0.26) EPS. The business's quarterly revenue was up .0% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts expect that Viking Therapeutics, Inc. will post -1.56 earnings per share 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.