Stifel Financial Corp Increases Holdings in Viking Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VKTX)

Stifel Financial Corp grew its holdings in shares of Viking Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VKTX - Free Report) by 92.1% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 131,348 shares of the biotechnology company's stock after purchasing an additional 62,956 shares during the period. Stifel Financial Corp owned approximately 0.12% of Viking Therapeutics worth $8,316,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Brian Lian sold 216,130 shares of Viking Therapeutics stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $70.83, for a total value of $15,308,487.90. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2,304,927 shares in the company, valued at approximately $163,257,979.41. The trade was a 8.57 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Lawson Macartney sold 2,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $68.67, for a total value of $137,340.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 47,965 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $3,293,756.55. This trade represents a 4.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 371,117 shares of company stock valued at $27,140,009. 4.70% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

VKTX has been the topic of a number of research reports. StockNews.com raised Viking Therapeutics to a "sell" rating in a report on Tuesday, October 15th. Morgan Stanley reissued an "overweight" rating and set a $105.00 price target on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a research report on Thursday, September 12th. William Blair reaffirmed an "outperform" rating on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a report on Wednesday, November 20th. B. Riley assumed coverage on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a report on Friday, November 22nd. They set a "buy" rating and a $109.00 target price for the company. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. initiated 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. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and a consensus price target of $106.75.

Viking Therapeutics Stock Performance

Shares of Viking Therapeutics stock traded down $0.84 on Friday, hitting $47.03. The company's stock had a trading volume of 3,244,605 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,438,160. The company has a market capitalization of $5.24 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -50.57 and a beta of 0.88. Viking Therapeutics, Inc. has a 1 year low of $17.23 and a 1 year high of $99.41. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $59.67 and a 200-day moving average price of $58.50.

Viking Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VKTX - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 23rd. The biotechnology company reported ($0.22) EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of ($0.24) by $0.02. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned ($0.23) earnings per share. As a group, analysts forecast that Viking Therapeutics, Inc. will post -0.97 EPS for the current year.

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.