Viking Therapeutics, Inc. $VKTX Shares Acquired by Woodline Partners LP

Key Points

• Woodline Partners LP significantly increased its stake in Viking Therapeutics by 222.7%, owning a total of 301,078 shares valued at approximately $7.27 million.
• Multiple institutional investors have also shown interest in Viking Therapeutics, with reported increases in their holdings ranging from 20.4% to 644% during the first quarter.
• Insider trading activities included CFO Greg Zante and CEO Brian Lian selling shares, resulting in a noticeable decrease in their ownership percentages of 2.47% and 1.11%, respectively.

Woodline Partners LP boosted its holdings in shares of Viking Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VKTX - Free Report) by 222.7% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 301,078 shares of the biotechnology company's stock after purchasing an additional 207,784 shares during the quarter. Woodline Partners LP owned approximately 0.27% of Viking Therapeutics worth $7,271,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Quarry LP increased its holdings in shares of Viking Therapeutics by 1,621.4% in the 1st quarter. Quarry LP now owns 1,205 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $29,000 after acquiring an additional 1,135 shares during the last quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Viking Therapeutics by 64.8% in the 1st quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 1,363 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $33,000 after acquiring an additional 536 shares during the last quarter. NBC Securities Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Viking Therapeutics by 222,100.0% in the 1st quarter. NBC Securities Inc. now owns 2,222 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $53,000 after acquiring an additional 2,221 shares during the last quarter. JNBA Financial Advisors bought a new stake in shares of Viking Therapeutics in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $56,000. Finally, Future Financial Wealth Managment LLC increased its holdings in shares of Viking Therapeutics by 1,242.9% in the 1st quarter. Future Financial Wealth Managment LLC now owns 2,350 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $57,000 after acquiring an additional 2,175 shares during the last quarter. 76.03% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Viking Therapeutics

In other news, CFO Greg Zante sold 4,266 shares of the stock in a transaction on 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 transaction, the chief financial officer owned 168,660 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $4,682,001.60. This represents a 2.47% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Brian Lian sold 26,889 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, July 3rd. The stock was 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 of the company's stock, valued at approximately $66,386,789.20. The trade was a 1.11% 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 valued at $984,405. 4.10% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

VKTX has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Raymond James Financial lowered their price target on Viking Therapeutics from $125.00 to $122.00 and set a "strong-buy" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, July 24th. HC Wainwright reiterated a "buy" rating and issued a $102.00 price target on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a report on Tuesday, August 19th. Finally, Citigroup boosted their price target on Viking Therapeutics from $31.00 to $38.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Thursday, July 24th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have assigned a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Buy" and an average target price of $87.50.

Viking Therapeutics Price Performance

NASDAQ:VKTX traded up $0.08 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $23.77. 1,497,211 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 4,780,828. Viking Therapeutics, Inc. has a twelve month low of $18.92 and a twelve month high of $81.73. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.67 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -15.53 and a beta of 0.73. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $30.82 and a 200 day moving average price of $28.14.

Viking Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VKTX - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 23rd. The biotechnology company reported ($0.58) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.44) by ($0.14). During the same period in the prior year, the company earned ($0.20) earnings per share. The company's revenue was up NaN% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts forecast 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.