Royce & Associates LP Boosts Holdings in Viking Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VKTX)

Royce & Associates LP grew its stake in shares of Viking Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VKTX - Free Report) by 464.4% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 75,261 shares of the biotechnology company's stock after acquiring an additional 61,927 shares during the quarter. Royce & Associates LP owned about 0.07% of Viking Therapeutics worth $3,029,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

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

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Viking Therapeutics Stock Performance

Shares of Viking Therapeutics stock traded up $0.60 on Friday, hitting $28.95. 3,480,117 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 3,970,987. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.25 billion, a P/E ratio of -28.95 and a beta of 0.90. Viking Therapeutics, Inc. has a 52 week low of $24.41 and a 52 week high of $89.10. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $31.04 and a 200 day simple moving average of $47.59.

Viking Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VKTX - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 5th. The biotechnology company reported ($0.32) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.27) by ($0.05). During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted ($0.25) EPS. Research analysts expect that Viking Therapeutics, Inc. will post -1.56 earnings per share for the current year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms recently issued reports on VKTX. HC Wainwright reissued a "buy" rating and issued a $102.00 price objective on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a report on Tuesday, March 11th. Maxim Group dropped their price objective on shares of Viking Therapeutics from $120.00 to $70.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, February 7th. Citigroup began coverage on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a report on Friday, February 7th. They issued a "neutral" rating and a $38.00 price objective on the stock. Raymond James lifted their price target on shares of Viking Therapeutics from $122.00 to $125.00 and gave the company a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, B. Riley reaffirmed a "buy" rating and set a $96.00 price target (down previously from $109.00) on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a report on Friday, February 7th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has assigned a hold rating, eleven have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $97.67.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CFO Greg Zante sold 50,309 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Monday, January 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $42.75, for a total value of $2,150,709.75. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 165,259 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,064,822.25. The trade was a 23.34 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Brian Lian sold 194,490 shares of Viking Therapeutics stock in a transaction on Monday, January 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $42.75, for a total transaction of $8,314,447.50. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2,366,570 shares of the company's stock, valued at $101,170,867.50. The trade was a 7.59 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 299,014 shares of company stock worth $12,782,849. Insiders own 4.70% of the company's stock.

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.