Viking Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VKTX) Shares Purchased by Frontier Capital Management Co. LLC

Frontier Capital Management Co. LLC increased its position in Viking Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VKTX - Free Report) by 2.8% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 597,739 shares of the biotechnology company's stock after purchasing an additional 16,321 shares during the period. Frontier Capital Management Co. LLC owned 0.54% of Viking Therapeutics worth $24,053,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Blue Trust Inc. boosted 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 acquiring an additional 309 shares during the period. YANKCOM Partnership purchased a new position in Viking Therapeutics during the 4th quarter worth $33,000. FIL Ltd raised its holdings in shares of Viking Therapeutics by 116.8% in the fourth 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 shares of Viking Therapeutics by 170.2% during the fourth 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 period. 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.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on VKTX. Maxim Group lowered their target price on shares of Viking Therapeutics from $120.00 to $70.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a 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 note on Friday, February 7th. Scotiabank initiated coverage on Viking Therapeutics in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. They set a "sector outperform" rating and a $102.00 price target for the company. The Goldman Sachs Group initiated coverage on Viking Therapeutics in a research report on Tuesday, April 8th. They issued a "neutral" rating and a $30.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, Raymond James increased their price objective on Viking Therapeutics from $122.00 to $125.00 and gave the company a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. One 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. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $87.15.

Viking Therapeutics Stock Down 4.3%

Shares of VKTX traded down $1.18 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, hitting $26.56. The company had a trading volume of 1,736,585 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,100,906. The business's 50-day simple moving average is $26.17 and its 200-day simple moving average is $37.32. The stock has a market cap of $2.98 billion, a PE ratio of -26.56 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.

Viking Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VKTX - Get Free Report) last posted 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). The company's revenue was up .0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted ($0.26) EPS. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Viking Therapeutics, Inc. will post -1.56 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Sarah Kathryn Rouan acquired 1,240 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, March 31st. The stock was bought at an average price of $24.15 per share, with a total value of $29,946.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 1,240 shares of the company's stock, valued at $29,946. The trade was a ∞ increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 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.