Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. Buys Shares of 10,000 Viking Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VKTX)

Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. acquired a new stake in Viking Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VKTX - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor acquired 10,000 shares of the biotechnology company's stock, valued at approximately $429,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in VKTX. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in Viking Therapeutics during the fourth quarter valued at about $24,888,000. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. lifted its stake in shares of Viking Therapeutics by 137.0% in the 4th quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. now owns 375,222 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $15,099,000 after acquiring an additional 216,873 shares during the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Viking Therapeutics by 29.9% during the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 593,528 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $37,576,000 after acquiring an additional 136,729 shares during the period. Sphera Funds Management LTD. bought a new position in Viking Therapeutics during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $8,424,000. Finally, Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC increased its stake in Viking Therapeutics by 42.0% in the 4th quarter. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC now owns 224,409 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $9,030,000 after purchasing an additional 66,358 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 76.03% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Viking Therapeutics

In related news, Director Sarah Kathryn Rouan bought 1,240 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 31st. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $24.15 per share, with a total value of $29,946.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now owns 1,240 shares in the company, valued at approximately $29,946. The trade was a ∞ increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Brian Lian sold 194,490 shares of Viking Therapeutics stock in a transaction dated Monday, January 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $42.75, for a total value of $8,314,447.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2,366,570 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $101,170,867.50. This represents a 7.59 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 299,014 shares of company stock valued at $12,782,849. Corporate insiders own 4.70% of the company's stock.

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Viking Therapeutics Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ VKTX traded down $1.60 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $22.62. 6,563,849 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 3,926,986. The company has a market cap of $2.54 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -22.62 and a beta of 0.84. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $29.32 and a 200-day moving average price of $45.06. Viking Therapeutics, Inc. has a 52 week low of $21.53 and a 52 week high of $81.86.

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Scotiabank began coverage on Viking Therapeutics in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. They set a "sector outperform" rating and a $102.00 price objective for the company. Raymond James raised their price target on shares of Viking Therapeutics from $122.00 to $125.00 and gave the stock a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Citigroup started coverage on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a research note on Friday, February 7th. They set a "neutral" rating and a $38.00 price objective for the company. B. Riley reissued a "buy" rating and issued a $96.00 target price (down from $109.00) on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a research note on Friday, February 7th. Finally, Piper Sandler lowered their price target on Viking Therapeutics from $74.00 to $71.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has issued a hold rating, ten have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $95.18.

Viking Therapeutics Profile

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.