Waverly Advisors LLC Has $1.95 Million Stock Position in Viking Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VKTX)

Waverly Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Viking Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VKTX - Free Report) by 34.6% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 48,369 shares of the biotechnology company's stock after purchasing an additional 12,426 shares during the period. Waverly Advisors LLC's holdings in Viking Therapeutics were worth $1,946,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of VKTX. Blue Trust Inc. raised its stake in 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 buying an additional 309 shares in the last quarter. YANKCOM Partnership purchased a new stake in shares of Viking Therapeutics during the 4th quarter worth approximately $33,000. FIL Ltd grew its position 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 last quarter. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC boosted 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 acquiring an additional 851 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Kapitalo Investimentos Ltda purchased a new position in shares of Viking Therapeutics during the fourth quarter worth about $63,000. 76.03% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

VKTX has been the topic of a number of research reports. Truist Financial restated 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. Citigroup assumed coverage on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a research note on Friday, February 7th. They set a "neutral" rating and a $38.00 price objective for the company. Maxim Group dropped their price target 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. Morgan Stanley cut their target price on shares of Viking Therapeutics from $105.00 to $102.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 24th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group initiated coverage on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a research report on Tuesday, April 8th. They issued a "neutral" rating and a $30.00 price objective for the company. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating, ten have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $87.15.

Viking Therapeutics Price Performance

VKTX traded up $0.41 during trading hours on Wednesday, hitting $27.59. 1,279,598 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 4,064,292. The stock has a market cap of $3.10 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -27.61 and a beta of 0.75. Viking Therapeutics, Inc. has a 12 month low of $18.92 and a 12 month high of $81.73. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $25.84 and a 200-day simple moving average of $34.39.

Viking Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VKTX - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 23rd. The biotechnology company reported ($0.41) 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 revenue was up .0% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts expect that Viking Therapeutics, Inc. will post -1.56 EPS for the current year.

About Viking Therapeutics

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.