Aptus Capital Advisors LLC Boosts Stock Position in Viking Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VKTX)

Aptus Capital Advisors LLC lifted its position in Viking Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VKTX) by 34.1% during the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 38,143 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock after acquiring an additional 9,699 shares during the period. Aptus Capital Advisors LLC’s holdings in Viking Therapeutics were worth $2,415,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in VKTX. Swiss National Bank raised its holdings in shares of Viking Therapeutics by 0.6% in the 1st quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 168,600 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $13,825,000 after buying an additional 1,000 shares during the period. Sei Investments Co. boosted its position in shares of Viking Therapeutics by 77.7% in the 1st quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 45,809 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $3,756,000 after purchasing an additional 20,023 shares during the period. Russell Investments Group Ltd. lifted its position in Viking Therapeutics by 34.4% during the 1st quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 344,825 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $28,276,000 after acquiring an additional 88,192 shares during the period. US Bancorp DE lifted its position in Viking Therapeutics by 195.9% during the 1st quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 6,942 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $569,000 after acquiring an additional 4,596 shares during the period. Finally, Avantax Advisory Services Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Viking Therapeutics in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $377,000. 76.03% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms recently weighed in on VKTX. JPMorgan Chase & Co. began coverage on Viking Therapeutics in a research note on Wednesday, September 11th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $80.00 price objective for the company. StockNews.com raised Viking Therapeutics to a “sell” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 15th. Oppenheimer reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $138.00 target price on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a report on Wednesday, September 25th. Raymond James boosted their price objective on Viking Therapeutics from $116.00 to $118.00 and gave the stock a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 25th. Finally, Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $105.00 target price on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a research report on Thursday, September 12th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $109.80.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Viking Therapeutics news, Director J Matthew Singleton sold 16,000 shares of Viking Therapeutics stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $62.22, for a total value of $995,520.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 9,500 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $591,090. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In other Viking Therapeutics news, CEO Brian Lian sold 1,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $69.90, for a total value of $69,900.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2,354,927 shares in the company, valued at $164,609,397.30. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director J Matthew Singleton sold 16,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, August 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $62.22, for a total transaction of $995,520.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 9,500 shares in the company, valued at approximately $591,090. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 506,687 shares of company stock valued at $36,029,679 in the last 90 days. 4.70% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Viking Therapeutics Price Performance

Shares of Viking Therapeutics stock opened at $55.06 on Thursday. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $64.72 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $61.66. The company has a market cap of $6.14 billion, a PE ratio of -59.20 and a beta of 1.00. Viking Therapeutics, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $10.34 and a fifty-two week high of $99.41.

Viking Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VKTX) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The biotechnology company reported ($0.22) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.24) by $0.02. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted ($0.23) EPS. Analysts expect that Viking Therapeutics, Inc. will post -0.98 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

About Viking Therapeutics

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.