Woodline Partners LP Grows Position in Viking Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VKTX)

Woodline Partners LP boosted its stake in shares of Viking Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VKTX - Free Report) by 46.2% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 93,294 shares of the biotechnology company's stock after purchasing an additional 29,475 shares during the period. Woodline Partners LP owned about 0.08% of Viking Therapeutics worth $3,754,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Virtu Financial LLC purchased a new stake in Viking Therapeutics during the 4th quarter valued at $1,715,000. Institute for Wealth Management LLC. increased its position in Viking Therapeutics by 122.4% during the fourth quarter. Institute for Wealth Management LLC. now owns 80,602 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $3,243,000 after acquiring an additional 44,365 shares during the last quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC lifted its holdings in Viking Therapeutics by 103.1% in the fourth quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 42,612 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $1,715,000 after acquiring an additional 21,627 shares during the period. Wesbanco Bank Inc. purchased a new position in Viking Therapeutics in the fourth quarter worth about $475,000. Finally, Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. bought a new stake in shares of Viking Therapeutics during the 4th quarter valued at about $528,000. Institutional investors own 76.03% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages recently issued reports on VKTX. Citigroup assumed coverage on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a research report on Friday, February 7th. They set a "neutral" rating and a $38.00 target price for the company. Piper Sandler decreased their price objective on Viking Therapeutics from $74.00 to $71.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. The Goldman Sachs Group assumed coverage on Viking Therapeutics in a research note on Tuesday, April 8th. They set a "neutral" rating and a $30.00 price objective for the company. Cantor Fitzgerald raised shares of Viking Therapeutics to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, April 29th. Finally, HC Wainwright restated a "buy" rating and set a $102.00 target price on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a research note on Thursday, April 24th. 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 given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $87.15.

Viking Therapeutics Trading Down 0.2%

Shares of NASDAQ:VKTX traded down $0.05 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, reaching $27.13. The stock had a trading volume of 2,512,399 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,069,073. The business's 50 day moving average price is $25.84 and its 200 day moving average price is $34.39. 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 $3.05 billion, a P/E ratio of -27.13 and a beta of 0.75.

Viking Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VKTX - Get Free Report) last posted 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). During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned ($0.26) EPS. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up .0% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts predict that Viking Therapeutics, Inc. will post -1.56 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other Viking Therapeutics news, Director Sarah Kathryn Rouan bought 1,240 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 31st. The shares were purchased at an average price of $24.15 per share, with a total value of $29,946.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now owns 1,240 shares in the company, valued at $29,946. This represents a ∞ increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 4.10% of the company's stock.

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.