Sigma Planning Corp Acquires Shares of 15,119 Viking Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VKTX)

Sigma Planning Corp acquired a new position in shares of Viking Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VKTX - Free Report) in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund acquired 15,119 shares of the biotechnology company's stock, valued at approximately $957,000.

Several other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Signaturefd LLC raised its stake in shares of Viking Therapeutics by 16.2% during the third quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 1,351 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $86,000 after acquiring an additional 188 shares during the last quarter. Keudell Morrison Wealth Management boosted its stake in Viking Therapeutics by 5.9% during the 3rd quarter. Keudell Morrison Wealth Management now owns 4,306 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $273,000 after purchasing an additional 241 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its holdings in shares of Viking Therapeutics by 124.6% during the third quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 438 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $28,000 after purchasing an additional 243 shares during the last quarter. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV lifted its position in Viking Therapeutics by 84.3% during the third quarter. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV now owns 553 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $35,000 after purchasing an additional 253 shares during the period. Finally, Los Angeles Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in Viking Therapeutics by 3.1% in the second quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC now owns 12,278 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $651,000 after purchasing an additional 372 shares during the last quarter. 76.03% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Viking Therapeutics Stock Down 2.7 %

VKTX stock traded down $1.49 during trading on Thursday, hitting $53.57. The company had a trading volume of 3,855,949 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,530,620. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.97 billion, a P/E ratio of -58.61 and a beta of 1.00. Viking Therapeutics, Inc. has a 52-week low of $10.34 and a 52-week high of $99.41. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $64.72 and a 200-day simple moving average of $61.66.

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

Insider Activity at Viking Therapeutics

In other news, Director J Matthew Singleton sold 16,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $62.22, for a total transaction of $995,520.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 9,500 shares in the company, valued at approximately $591,090. The trade was a 62.75 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Brian Lian sold 112,870 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $65.80, for a total transaction of $7,426,846.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2,354,927 shares of the company's stock, valued at $154,954,196.60. The trade was a 4.57 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 506,687 shares of company stock valued at $36,029,679 over the last ninety days. 4.70% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on VKTX. Oppenheimer reiterated an "outperform" rating and issued a $138.00 price objective on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a research note on Wednesday, September 25th. Raymond James increased their target price on shares of Viking Therapeutics from $116.00 to $118.00 and gave the stock a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Thursday, July 25th. HC Wainwright upped their price target on shares of Viking Therapeutics from $90.00 to $102.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, November 4th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. started coverage on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a research report on Wednesday, September 11th. They set an "overweight" rating and a $80.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an "overweight" rating and issued a $105.00 target price on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a report on Thursday, September 12th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $109.80.

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.