Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd Purchases Shares of 27,911 Viking Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VKTX)

Key Points

• Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd has acquired a new stake in Viking Therapeutics, purchasing 27,911 shares valued at approximately $674,000.
• Insider selling activity is noted, with COO Marianna Mancini and CEO Brian Lian offloading shares valued at over $860,000 combined in early July.
• Several analysts have maintained a "buy" rating for Viking Therapeutics, with price targets ranging from $30.00 to $102.00, reflecting positive growth expectations despite recent earnings misses.

Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of Viking Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VKTX - Free Report) during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor purchased 27,911 shares of the biotechnology company's stock, valued at approximately $674,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of VKTX. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. increased its stake in Viking Therapeutics by 121.5% in the first quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. now owns 29,721 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $718,000 after purchasing an additional 16,302 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its stake in Viking Therapeutics by 9,209.9% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 24,392 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $589,000 after purchasing an additional 24,130 shares during the period. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. purchased a new stake in Viking Therapeutics in the fourth quarter worth $429,000. LPL Financial LLC increased its stake in Viking Therapeutics by 18.2% in the fourth quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 96,702 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $3,891,000 after purchasing an additional 14,873 shares during the period. Finally, Concurrent Investment Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Viking Therapeutics in the first quarter worth $220,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.03% of the company's stock.

Viking Therapeutics Price Performance

NASDAQ VKTX traded up $0.80 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $33.71. The company's stock had a trading volume of 3,324,119 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,760,685. The company has a market cap of $3.79 billion, a PE ratio of -22.03 and a beta of 0.62. The business's 50 day simple moving average is $28.85 and its 200-day simple moving average is $28.61. Viking Therapeutics, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $18.92 and a fifty-two week high of $81.73.

Viking Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VKTX - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, July 23rd. The biotechnology company reported ($0.58) EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of ($0.44) by ($0.14). During the same period in the previous year, the business earned ($0.20) earnings per share. The company's revenue for the quarter was up NaN% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts expect that Viking Therapeutics, Inc. will post -1.56 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CFO Greg Zante sold 4,266 shares of Viking Therapeutics 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 completion of the sale, the chief financial officer owned 168,660 shares of the company's stock, valued at $4,682,001.60. The trade was a 2.47% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, COO Marianna Mancini sold 4,266 shares of Viking Therapeutics stock in a transaction dated Thursday, July 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $27.77, for a total value of $118,466.82. Following the sale, the chief operating officer directly owned 377,535 shares of the company's stock, valued at $10,484,146.95. This trade represents a 1.12% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 35,421 shares of company stock valued at $984,405 over the last quarter. 4.10% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have weighed in on VKTX shares. Citigroup increased their target price on Viking Therapeutics from $31.00 to $38.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 24th. The Goldman Sachs Group initiated coverage on Viking Therapeutics in a research note on Tuesday, April 8th. They set a "neutral" rating and a $30.00 price target on the stock. Morgan Stanley cut their price target on Viking Therapeutics from $105.00 to $102.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 24th. Raymond James Financial cut their price target on Viking Therapeutics from $125.00 to $122.00 and set a "strong-buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, July 24th. Finally, HC Wainwright restated a "buy" rating and set a $102.00 price target on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a research note on Wednesday, June 25th. 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 assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $86.92.

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.