Westfield Capital Management Co. LP Boosts Stock Position in Viking Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VKTX)

Westfield Capital Management Co. LP boosted its position in Viking Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VKTX) by 18.3% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 930,370 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock after purchasing an additional 143,675 shares during the quarter. Westfield Capital Management Co. LP’s holdings in Viking Therapeutics were worth $58,902,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in VKTX. Blue Trust Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Viking Therapeutics during the third quarter valued at approximately $26,000. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its holdings in 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 last quarter. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Viking Therapeutics during the 2nd quarter worth $27,000. Gilliland Jeter Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Viking Therapeutics during the third quarter worth $32,000. Finally, Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV grew its position in shares of Viking Therapeutics by 84.3% in the third quarter. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV now owns 553 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $35,000 after purchasing an additional 253 shares during the period. 76.03% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Viking Therapeutics Stock Up 1.9 %

Shares of Viking Therapeutics stock opened at $52.59 on Monday. Viking Therapeutics, Inc. has a twelve month low of $11.55 and a twelve month high of $99.41. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $63.73 and a 200 day moving average price of $60.25.

Viking Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VKTX) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The biotechnology company reported ($0.22) earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.24) by $0.02. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted ($0.23) earnings per share. Equities research analysts expect that Viking Therapeutics, Inc. will post -0.98 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director J Matthew Singleton sold 10,300 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, September 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $69.50, for a total value of $715,850.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 9,500 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $660,250. This represents a 52.02 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Lawson Macartney sold 2,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, November 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $68.67, for a total transaction of $137,340.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 47,965 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,293,756.55. This represents a 4.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 371,117 shares of company stock worth $27,140,009 in the last 90 days. 4.70% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

VKTX has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. B. Riley began coverage on Viking Therapeutics in a research report on Friday. They set a “buy” rating and a $109.00 target price on the stock. HC Wainwright increased their price objective on shares of Viking Therapeutics from $90.00 to $102.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, November 4th. William Blair restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a report on Wednesday, November 20th. Oppenheimer reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $138.00 price target on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a research report on Wednesday, September 25th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded shares of Viking Therapeutics to a “sell” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 15th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Viking Therapeutics presently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $109.73.

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.