Waverly Advisors LLC Increases Holdings in Viking Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VKTX)

Waverly Advisors LLC raised its stake in Viking Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VKTX - Free Report) by 34.6% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 48,369 shares of the biotechnology company's stock after buying an additional 12,426 shares during the quarter. Waverly Advisors LLC's holdings in Viking Therapeutics were worth $1,946,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Blue Trust Inc. grew its holdings 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 period. YANKCOM Partnership acquired a new position in Viking Therapeutics in the 4th quarter valued at about $33,000. FIL Ltd grew its stake in shares of Viking Therapeutics by 116.8% in the 4th quarter. FIL Ltd now owns 1,203 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $48,000 after buying an additional 648 shares during the period. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC increased its holdings in shares of Viking Therapeutics by 170.2% during the 4th quarter. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC now owns 1,351 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $55,000 after buying an additional 851 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Kapitalo Investimentos Ltda acquired a new stake in shares of Viking Therapeutics during the 4th quarter worth approximately $63,000. 76.03% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling at Viking Therapeutics

In related news, Director Sarah Kathryn Rouan purchased 1,240 shares of Viking Therapeutics stock in a transaction on Monday, March 31st. The shares were bought at an average price of $24.15 per share, with a total value of $29,946.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 1,240 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $29,946. This trade represents a ∞ increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 4.10% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages recently weighed in on VKTX. Raymond James increased their price objective on Viking Therapeutics from $122.00 to $125.00 and gave the stock a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. 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. Maxim Group cut their price objective on Viking Therapeutics from $120.00 to $70.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, February 7th. B. Riley reaffirmed a "buy" rating and issued a $96.00 target price (down previously from $109.00) on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Finally, Piper Sandler lowered their target price on shares of Viking Therapeutics from $74.00 to $71.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. One equities research 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 company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $87.15.

Viking Therapeutics Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:VKTX opened at $27.73 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.11 billion, a PE ratio of -27.73 and a beta of 0.75. Viking Therapeutics, Inc. has a 1 year low of $18.92 and a 1 year high of $81.73. The firm's 50-day moving average is $25.97 and its two-hundred day moving average is $35.44.

Viking Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VKTX - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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). During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted ($0.26) EPS. The company's revenue for the quarter was up .0% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts expect that Viking Therapeutics, Inc. will post -1.56 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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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