Portolan Capital Management LLC Increases Position in Viking Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VKTX)

Portolan Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Viking Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VKTX - Free Report) by 58.3% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 125,762 shares of the biotechnology company's stock after purchasing an additional 46,340 shares during the period. Portolan Capital Management LLC owned about 0.11% of Viking Therapeutics worth $7,962,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. FMR LLC grew its holdings in Viking Therapeutics by 0.5% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 16,619,430 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $1,052,176,000 after purchasing an additional 79,149 shares during the last quarter. Perpetual Ltd lifted its position in shares of Viking Therapeutics by 55.4% in the 3rd quarter. Perpetual Ltd now owns 1,269,152 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $80,350,000 after purchasing an additional 452,344 shares during the period. Braidwell LP lifted its position in shares of Viking Therapeutics by 4.5% in the 3rd quarter. Braidwell LP now owns 1,156,977 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $73,248,000 after purchasing an additional 50,072 shares during the period. International Assets Investment Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Viking Therapeutics by 10,775.6% in the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 1,004,033 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $63,565,000 after purchasing an additional 994,801 shares during the period. Finally, Westfield Capital Management Co. LP lifted its position in shares of Viking Therapeutics by 18.3% in the 3rd quarter. Westfield Capital Management Co. LP now owns 930,370 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $58,902,000 after purchasing an additional 143,675 shares during the period. 76.03% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Viking Therapeutics Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:VKTX traded up $0.98 during midday trading on Wednesday, hitting $51.24. The company's stock had a trading volume of 2,628,608 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,497,048. The business's 50 day simple moving average is $61.91 and its 200 day simple moving average is $59.23. The company has a market cap of $5.71 billion, a P/E ratio of -54.57 and a beta of 0.88. Viking Therapeutics, Inc. has a 12-month low of $14.82 and a 12-month high of $99.41.

Viking Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VKTX - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The biotechnology company reported ($0.22) EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of ($0.24) by $0.02. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned ($0.23) EPS. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Viking Therapeutics, Inc. will post -0.98 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Viking Therapeutics

In other news, CFO Greg Zante sold 131,687 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, October 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $76.61, for a total transaction of $10,088,541.07. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 149,366 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,442,929.26. The trade was a 46.85 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Brian Lian sold 216,130 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Friday, September 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $70.83, for a total transaction of $15,308,487.90. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 2,304,927 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $163,257,979.41. This trade represents a 8.57 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 371,117 shares of company stock worth $27,140,009 over the last three months. Insiders own 4.70% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an "overweight" rating and issued a $105.00 price target on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a research report on Thursday, September 12th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. began coverage on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a research report on Wednesday, September 11th. They set an "overweight" rating and a $80.00 target price for the company. Piper Sandler began coverage on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a research report on Monday. They set an "overweight" rating and a $74.00 target price for the company. B. Riley started coverage on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a research report on Friday, November 22nd. They set a "buy" rating and a $109.00 target price for the company. Finally, William Blair reaffirmed an "outperform" rating on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a report on Wednesday, November 20th. 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. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and a consensus price target of $106.75.

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.