Nvwm LLC Takes $999,000 Position in Viking Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VKTX)

Nvwm LLC purchased a new stake in Viking Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VKTX - Free Report) in the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 15,784 shares of the biotechnology company's stock, valued at approximately $999,000.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in VKTX. Oak Ridge Investments LLC acquired a new position in Viking Therapeutics during the third quarter worth approximately $837,000. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Viking Therapeutics by 1.8% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 5,381,904 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $100,157,000 after acquiring an additional 97,552 shares during the last quarter. Nepsis Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Viking Therapeutics during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $11,251,000. CWM LLC raised its stake in Viking Therapeutics by 70.6% in the 2nd quarter. CWM LLC now owns 1,518 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $80,000 after acquiring an additional 628 shares during the period. Finally, Raymond James & Associates boosted its position in Viking Therapeutics by 43.2% during the third quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 441,590 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $27,957,000 after purchasing an additional 133,144 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.03% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts recently commented on the stock. HC Wainwright reaffirmed a "buy" rating and set a $90.00 target price on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a report on Thursday, October 24th. Morgan Stanley reiterated an "overweight" rating and set a $105.00 target price on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a research note on Thursday, September 12th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. assumed coverage on Viking Therapeutics in a research note on Wednesday, September 11th. They issued an "overweight" rating and a $80.00 price target for the company. Raymond James increased their price objective on Viking Therapeutics from $116.00 to $118.00 and gave the stock a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 25th. Finally, StockNews.com raised shares of Viking Therapeutics to a "sell" rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 15th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $108.60.

Viking Therapeutics Price Performance

NASDAQ:VKTX traded up $0.34 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $72.88. The stock had a trading volume of 3,171,048 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,700,090. Viking Therapeutics, Inc. has a 12 month low of $9.34 and a 12 month high of $99.41. The stock has a market capitalization of $8.12 billion, a PE ratio of -78.36 and a beta of 1.00. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $64.44 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $61.81.

Viking Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VKTX - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 23rd. The biotechnology company reported ($0.22) earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.24) by $0.02. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned ($0.23) EPS. Equities analysts expect that Viking Therapeutics, Inc. will post -0.98 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director J Matthew Singleton sold 20,786 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $57.53, for a total transaction of $1,195,818.58. Following the sale, the director now owns 9,500 shares of the company's stock, valued at $546,535. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In related news, Director J Matthew Singleton sold 20,786 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $57.53, for a total value of $1,195,818.58. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 9,500 shares in the company, valued at $546,535. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Greg Zante sold 131,687 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, October 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $76.61, for a total transaction of $10,088,541.07. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 149,366 shares in the company, valued at $11,442,929.26. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 525,473 shares of company stock worth $37,088,158 in the last three months. 4.70% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Viking Therapeutics Company 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.