Pier Capital LLC Acquires 31,908 Shares of Viking Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VKTX)

Pier Capital LLC boosted its stake in Viking Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VKTX - Free Report) by 55.7% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 89,147 shares of the biotechnology company's stock after buying an additional 31,908 shares during the quarter. Pier Capital LLC owned approximately 0.08% of Viking Therapeutics worth $5,644,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Blue Trust Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Viking Therapeutics in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $26,000. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its holdings in Viking Therapeutics by 124.6% in the third quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 438 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $28,000 after purchasing an additional 243 shares in the last quarter. Gilliland Jeter Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in Viking Therapeutics during the third quarter worth $32,000. Stone House Investment Management LLC raised its holdings in Viking Therapeutics by 66.7% during the third quarter. Stone House Investment Management LLC now owns 500 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $32,000 after buying an additional 200 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV lifted its position in shares of Viking Therapeutics by 84.3% in the third quarter. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV now owns 553 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $35,000 after buying an additional 253 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.03% of the company's stock.

Insider Transactions at Viking Therapeutics

In related news, Director Sarah Kathryn Rouan sold 11,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, October 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $80.89, for a total transaction of $889,790.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 9,500 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $768,455. The trade was a 53.66 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Lawson Macartney sold 2,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, November 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $68.67, for a total value of $137,340.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 47,965 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,293,756.55. This trade represents a 4.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 371,117 shares of company stock worth $27,140,009 in the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 4.70% of the company's stock.

Viking Therapeutics Trading Up 1.8 %

Shares of VKTX stock traded up $0.92 on Friday, hitting $50.80. 2,673,676 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 4,054,311. The business has a 50-day moving average of $61.21 and a 200 day moving average of $58.93. Viking Therapeutics, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $16.70 and a fifty-two week high of $99.41. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.66 billion, a P/E ratio of -54.62 and a beta of 0.88.

Viking Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VKTX - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The biotechnology company reported ($0.22) EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.24) by $0.02. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted ($0.23) EPS. As a group, research analysts forecast that Viking Therapeutics, Inc. will post -0.97 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on VKTX shares. Piper Sandler started coverage on Viking Therapeutics in a research report on Monday, December 2nd. They set an "overweight" rating and a $74.00 price objective for the company. Oppenheimer reissued an "outperform" rating and issued a $138.00 price objective on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a research report on Wednesday, September 25th. StockNews.com raised shares of Viking Therapeutics to a "sell" rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 15th. B. Riley initiated coverage on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a report on Friday, November 22nd. They issued a "buy" rating and a $109.00 price target for the company. Finally, Morgan Stanley restated an "overweight" rating and set a $105.00 price objective on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a report on Thursday, September 12th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Buy" and an average target price of $106.75.

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.