Oak Ridge Investments LLC Invests $837,000 in Viking Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VKTX)

Oak Ridge Investments LLC bought a new position in shares of Viking Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VKTX) during the third quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund bought 13,222 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock, valued at approximately $837,000.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Blue Trust Inc. purchased a new position in Viking Therapeutics in the 3rd quarter valued at $26,000. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Viking Therapeutics during the 2nd quarter worth $27,000. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its stake in shares of Viking Therapeutics by 124.6% during the 3rd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 438 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $28,000 after buying an additional 243 shares during the last quarter. Gilliland Jeter Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Viking Therapeutics during the 3rd quarter worth $32,000. Finally, Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV raised its stake in Viking Therapeutics by 84.3% in the 3rd 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 last quarter. 76.03% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

VKTX has been the subject of several analyst reports. StockNews.com raised shares of Viking Therapeutics to a “sell” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 15th. Morgan Stanley restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $105.00 price target on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a report on Thursday, September 12th. Raymond James lifted their price target on Viking Therapeutics from $116.00 to $118.00 and gave the company a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, July 25th. Oppenheimer restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $138.00 price target on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a report on Wednesday, September 25th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. initiated coverage on Viking Therapeutics in a report on Wednesday, September 11th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $80.00 price target for the company. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Viking Therapeutics currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $108.60.

Viking Therapeutics Trading Up 0.5 %

Shares of NASDAQ:VKTX opened at $72.88 on Friday. Viking Therapeutics, Inc. has a 1 year low of $9.34 and a 1 year high of $99.41. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $64.44 and a 200-day simple moving average of $61.86.

Viking Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VKTX) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The biotechnology company reported ($0.22) EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.24) by $0.02. During the same period last year, the business earned ($0.23) EPS. On average, equities analysts predict that Viking Therapeutics, Inc. will post -0.98 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Viking Therapeutics

In other Viking Therapeutics news, Director J Matthew Singleton sold 20,786 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $57.53, for a total value of $1,195,818.58. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 9,500 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $546,535. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In related news, Director Sarah Kathryn Rouan sold 11,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, October 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $80.89, for a total transaction of $889,790.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 9,500 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $768,455. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director J Matthew Singleton sold 20,786 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $57.53, for a total value of $1,195,818.58. Following the transaction, the director now owns 9,500 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $546,535. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 525,473 shares of company stock valued at $37,088,158 in the last three months. Corporate 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.