Viking Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VKTX) Shares Purchased by Vanguard Group Inc.

Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Viking Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VKTX - Free Report) by 3.4% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 5,284,352 shares of the biotechnology company's stock after buying an additional 171,995 shares during the quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. owned 5.28% of Viking Therapeutics worth $58,498,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Retirement Group LLC raised its holdings in Viking Therapeutics by 75.0% in the second quarter. Retirement Group LLC now owns 2,100 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $34,000 after acquiring an additional 900 shares in the last quarter. Cetera Advisor Networks LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Viking Therapeutics during the 2nd quarter worth $36,000. Engineers Gate Manager LP acquired a new position in shares of Viking Therapeutics during the 1st quarter worth $37,000. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Viking Therapeutics during the 2nd quarter worth $53,000. Finally, Great West Life Assurance Co. Can acquired a new position in Viking Therapeutics in the 1st quarter valued at about $63,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.03% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on VKTX shares. Oppenheimer boosted their target price on Viking Therapeutics from $116.00 to $138.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Tuesday, March 26th. Stifel Nicolaus reaffirmed a "buy" rating and set a $80.00 target price on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a research note on Friday, March 15th. William Blair reaffirmed an "outperform" rating on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a report on Friday, February 23rd. BTIG Research lifted their price target on Viking Therapeutics from $100.00 to $125.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, March 26th. Finally, Raymond James lifted their price target on Viking Therapeutics from $37.00 to $115.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 27th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, Viking Therapeutics has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $112.25.

Insider Activity

In other Viking Therapeutics news, Director Sarah Kathryn Rouan sold 30,000 shares of Viking Therapeutics stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $23.05, for a total transaction of $691,500.00. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In other news, CEO Brian Lian sold 269,079 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $26.87, for a total value of $7,230,152.73. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 2,184,882 shares in the company, valued at approximately $58,707,779.34. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, Director Sarah Kathryn Rouan sold 30,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $23.05, for a total value of $691,500.00. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 359,079 shares of company stock worth $9,461,153. Insiders own 4.40% of the company's stock.

Viking Therapeutics Price Performance

Shares of Viking Therapeutics stock traded down $0.57 during trading hours on Monday, hitting $75.88. The company's stock had a trading volume of 2,286,194 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,247,545. The company has a market capitalization of $7.63 billion, a PE ratio of -82.48 and a beta of 1.05. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $57.93 and a 200 day moving average of $29.99. Viking Therapeutics, Inc. has a 12 month low of $8.28 and a 12 month high of $99.41.

Viking Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VKTX - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 7th. The biotechnology company reported ($0.25) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting analysts' consensus estimates of ($0.25). During the same period last year, the firm earned ($0.26) earnings per share. Equities analysts expect that Viking Therapeutics, Inc. will post -1.1 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.