48,102 Shares in Viking Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VKTX) Bought by Magnetar Financial LLC

Magnetar Financial LLC purchased a new stake in Viking Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VKTX - Free Report) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund purchased 48,102 shares of the biotechnology company's stock, valued at approximately $1,936,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in VKTX. Teacher Retirement System of Texas lifted its stake in Viking Therapeutics by 18.7% in the fourth quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas now owns 29,537 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $1,189,000 after acquiring an additional 4,647 shares during the last quarter. Vinva Investment Management Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of Viking Therapeutics in the 4th quarter valued at $194,000. Xponance Inc. boosted its holdings in Viking Therapeutics by 4.5% in the fourth quarter. Xponance Inc. now owns 14,024 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $564,000 after purchasing an additional 610 shares in the last quarter. Tocqueville Asset Management L.P. acquired a new position in Viking Therapeutics during the fourth quarter worth $814,000. Finally, WealthTrust Asset Management LLC increased its position in Viking Therapeutics by 6.7% during the fourth quarter. WealthTrust Asset Management LLC now owns 6,923 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $279,000 after buying an additional 437 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.03% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Raymond James upped their price target on Viking Therapeutics from $122.00 to $125.00 and gave the stock a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Maxim Group decreased their target price on Viking Therapeutics from $120.00 to $70.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, February 7th. B. Riley reiterated a "buy" rating and set a $96.00 price target (down previously from $109.00) on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a report on Friday, February 7th. Scotiabank initiated coverage on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. They issued a "sector outperform" rating and a $102.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Citigroup began coverage on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a research note on Friday, February 7th. They issued a "neutral" rating and a $38.00 target price on the stock. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has assigned a hold rating, eleven have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $97.67.

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Insider Transactions at Viking Therapeutics

In other news, COO Marianna Mancini sold 54,215 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $42.75, for a total transaction of $2,317,691.25. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 374,134 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $15,994,228.50. This trade represents a 12.66 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CFO Greg Zante sold 50,309 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $42.75, for a total transaction of $2,150,709.75. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 165,259 shares in the company, valued at $7,064,822.25. This trade represents a 23.34 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 299,014 shares of company stock valued at $12,782,849. Company insiders own 4.70% of the company's stock.

Viking Therapeutics Stock Up 1.1 %

Viking Therapeutics stock traded up $0.33 during trading hours on Monday, hitting $29.28. The stock had a trading volume of 2,720,350 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,965,987. The company has a 50-day moving average of $31.04 and a two-hundred day moving average of $47.51. Viking Therapeutics, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $24.41 and a fifty-two week high of $89.10. The company has a market cap of $3.29 billion, a PE ratio of -29.28 and a beta of 0.90.

Viking Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VKTX - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The biotechnology company reported ($0.32) EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of ($0.27) by ($0.05). During the same quarter last year, the business posted ($0.25) earnings per share. As a group, analysts forecast that Viking Therapeutics, Inc. will post -1.56 EPS for the current fiscal 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.