Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. Boosts Stock Position in Viking Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VKTX)

Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. increased its holdings in Viking Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VKTX - Free Report) by 137.0% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 375,222 shares of the biotechnology company's stock after acquiring an additional 216,873 shares during the period. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. owned about 0.34% of Viking Therapeutics worth $15,099,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of VKTX. Blue Trust Inc. grew its stake in Viking Therapeutics by 75.9% in the 4th quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 716 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 309 shares during the period. Stone House Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of 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 buying an additional 200 shares during the last quarter. YANKCOM Partnership bought a new position in Viking Therapeutics during the fourth quarter valued at about $33,000. S.A. Mason LLC increased its holdings in Viking Therapeutics by 20.0% during 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 bought a new stake in Viking Therapeutics in the fourth quarter worth about $75,000. 76.03% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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Viking Therapeutics Stock Performance

Viking Therapeutics stock traded down $1.06 during midday trading on Monday, reaching $29.83. 3,258,032 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,984,288. The company's fifty day moving average is $32.20 and its 200-day moving average is $48.64. Viking Therapeutics, Inc. has a 52 week low of $24.41 and a 52 week high of $89.10. The firm has a market cap of $3.35 billion, a PE ratio of -29.83 and a beta of 0.90.

Viking Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VKTX - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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 in the prior year, the firm posted ($0.25) earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Viking Therapeutics, Inc. will post -1.56 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Viking Therapeutics news, COO Marianna Mancini sold 54,215 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 $2,317,691.25. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 374,134 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $15,994,228.50. This trade represents a 12.66 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Greg Zante sold 50,309 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 165,259 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,064,822.25. This represents a 23.34 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 299,014 shares of company stock worth $12,782,849. Insiders own 4.70% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

VKTX has been the subject of a number of research reports. Maxim Group reduced their target price on shares of Viking Therapeutics from $120.00 to $70.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Scotiabank assumed coverage on Viking Therapeutics in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. They issued a "sector outperform" rating and a $102.00 target price for the company. 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 research report on Friday, February 7th. Piper Sandler decreased their price objective on Viking Therapeutics from $74.00 to $71.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, Citigroup began coverage on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a report on Friday, February 7th. They set a "neutral" rating and a $38.00 price objective on the stock. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has assigned a hold rating, eleven have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Viking Therapeutics currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $97.67.

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.