Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA Invests $12.34 Million in Viking Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VKTX)

Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA bought a new stake in shares of Viking Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VKTX - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor bought 663,155 shares of the biotechnology company's stock, valued at approximately $12,341,000. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA owned about 0.66% of Viking Therapeutics at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Rafferty Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Viking Therapeutics by 63.6% during the 3rd quarter. Rafferty Asset Management LLC now owns 560,180 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $6,201,000 after purchasing an additional 217,827 shares during the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Viking Therapeutics by 1,557.6% in the 4th quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 371,604 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $6,916,000 after acquiring an additional 349,186 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James & Associates raised its holdings in shares of Viking Therapeutics by 100.4% during the 4th quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 137,583 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $2,560,000 after acquiring an additional 68,921 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Viking Therapeutics by 3.4% during the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 5,284,352 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $58,498,000 after acquiring an additional 171,995 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Aigen Investment Management LP purchased a new stake in shares of Viking Therapeutics in the third quarter valued at about $148,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.03% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity at Viking Therapeutics

In related news, COO Marianna Mancini sold 281,425 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $78.66, for a total value of $22,136,890.50. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 348,508 shares of the company's stock, valued at $27,413,639.28. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other Viking Therapeutics news, COO Marianna Mancini sold 281,425 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $78.66, for a total value of $22,136,890.50. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 348,508 shares in the company, valued at $27,413,639.28. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CFO Greg Zante sold 66,756 shares of Viking Therapeutics stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $74.69, for a total value of $4,986,005.64. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 174,854 shares of the company's stock, valued at $13,059,845.26. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 4.70% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Viking Therapeutics Stock Performance

Shares of VKTX traded down $2.06 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $67.00. 4,148,176 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,188,102. The stock's 50-day moving average is $72.27 and its 200-day moving average is $42.47. Viking Therapeutics, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $8.28 and a fifty-two week high of $99.41. The company has a market cap of $7.39 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -72.04 and a beta of 1.12.

Viking Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VKTX - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 24th. The biotechnology company reported ($0.26) EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.27) by $0.01. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted ($0.25) earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Viking Therapeutics, Inc. will post -1.08 EPS for the current year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have weighed in on VKTX shares. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Viking Therapeutics to a "sell" rating in a report on Friday. BTIG Research lifted their target price on Viking Therapeutics from $100.00 to $125.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 26th. Stifel Nicolaus reaffirmed a "buy" rating and issued a $80.00 price target on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a research note on Friday, March 15th. Maxim Group reissued a "buy" rating and set a $120.00 price objective on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a research report on Friday, March 15th. Finally, William Blair reaffirmed an "outperform" rating on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a research report on Friday, February 23rd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $112.38.

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.