EFG Asset Management North America Corp. Increases Position in Viking Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VKTX)

EFG Asset Management North America Corp. increased its stake in shares of Viking Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VKTX - Free Report) by 130.8% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 71,773 shares of the biotechnology company's stock after buying an additional 40,674 shares during the quarter. EFG Asset Management North America Corp. owned about 0.06% of Viking Therapeutics worth $2,887,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Virtu Financial LLC acquired a new position in shares of Viking Therapeutics in the fourth quarter valued at about $1,715,000. Stifel Financial Corp increased its holdings in Viking Therapeutics by 92.1% in the 3rd quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 131,348 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $8,316,000 after buying an additional 62,956 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its position in Viking Therapeutics by 6.6% during the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 715,597 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $45,304,000 after buying an additional 44,122 shares during the last quarter. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. lifted its stake in Viking Therapeutics by 109.1% during the 3rd quarter. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. now owns 34,023 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $2,154,000 after acquiring an additional 17,754 shares during the period. Finally, Institute for Wealth Management LLC. boosted its holdings in shares of Viking Therapeutics by 122.4% in the 4th quarter. Institute for Wealth Management LLC. now owns 80,602 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $3,243,000 after acquiring an additional 44,365 shares during the last quarter. 76.03% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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Insider Activity at Viking Therapeutics

In related news, CFO Greg Zante sold 50,309 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 value of $2,150,709.75. Following the completion of the transaction, 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 ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Brian Lian sold 194,490 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Monday, January 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $42.75, for a total value 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. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 299,014 shares of company stock worth $12,782,849. 4.70% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

VKTX has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Piper Sandler reduced their price objective on shares of Viking Therapeutics from $74.00 to $71.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Scotiabank began coverage on shares of 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. Raymond James boosted their price target on shares of Viking Therapeutics from $122.00 to $125.00 and gave the stock a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Citigroup assumed coverage on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a report on Friday, February 7th. They issued a "neutral" rating and a $38.00 price objective for the company. Finally, B. Riley restated a "buy" rating and issued a $96.00 price target (down from $109.00) on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a research report on Friday, February 7th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has issued a hold rating, eleven have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $97.67.

Viking Therapeutics Stock Performance

Shares of Viking Therapeutics stock traded down $1.30 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $27.98. The company's stock had a trading volume of 2,430,123 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,970,298. The stock has a market cap of $3.14 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -27.98 and a beta of 0.90. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $30.73 and a 200-day moving average of $47.14. Viking Therapeutics, Inc. has a twelve month low of $24.41 and a twelve month high of $89.10.

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

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.