Raymond James Financial Inc. Buys New Stake in Viking Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VKTX)

Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Viking Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VKTX - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm bought 618,469 shares of the biotechnology company's stock, valued at approximately $24,888,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. owned 0.55% of Viking Therapeutics at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in VKTX. Blue Trust Inc. raised its stake in shares of Viking Therapeutics by 75.9% in the fourth quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 716 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $29,000 after acquiring an additional 309 shares in the last quarter. Stone House Investment Management LLC increased its holdings in Viking Therapeutics by 66.7% during the 3rd quarter. Stone House Investment Management LLC now owns 500 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $32,000 after purchasing an additional 200 shares during the period. YANKCOM Partnership acquired a new stake in Viking Therapeutics in the 4th quarter valued at about $33,000. S.A. Mason LLC boosted its stake in shares of Viking Therapeutics by 20.0% in the 4th quarter. S.A. Mason LLC now owns 1,800 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $72,000 after buying an additional 300 shares during the period. Finally, Wolff Wiese Magana LLC acquired a new position in shares of Viking Therapeutics during the fourth quarter worth about $75,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.03% of the company's stock.

Viking Therapeutics Stock Up 1.9 %

NASDAQ:VKTX traded up $0.56 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $30.02. The stock had a trading volume of 1,974,461 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,972,446. The stock has a market cap of $3.37 billion, a P/E ratio of -30.02 and a beta of 0.90. Viking Therapeutics, Inc. has a 12-month low of $24.41 and a 12-month high of $89.10. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $31.70 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $48.17.

Remove Ads

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

Insider Transactions at Viking Therapeutics

In other news, CFO Greg Zante sold 50,309 shares of Viking Therapeutics 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 completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 165,259 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,064,822.25. This trade represents a 23.34 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, COO Marianna Mancini sold 54,215 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $42.75, for a total value of $2,317,691.25. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 374,134 shares in the company, valued at approximately $15,994,228.50. This represents a 12.66 % decrease in their position. 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. Corporate insiders own 4.70% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have weighed in on the company. Maxim Group cut their price target on Viking Therapeutics from $120.00 to $70.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, February 7th. William Blair restated an "outperform" rating on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a research note on Wednesday, November 20th. Raymond James upped their price target on Viking Therapeutics from $122.00 to $125.00 and gave the company a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Piper Sandler cut their target price on Viking Therapeutics from $74.00 to $71.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, Citigroup initiated coverage on Viking Therapeutics in a report on Friday, February 7th. They issued a "neutral" rating and a $38.00 target price for the company. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has issued a hold rating, eleven have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $97.67.

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.