Viking Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VKTX) Shares Purchased by EFG Asset Management North America Corp.

EFG Asset Management North America Corp. increased its stake in shares of Viking Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VKTX) by 130.8% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 71,773 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock after purchasing an additional 40,674 shares during the period. EFG Asset Management North America Corp. owned approximately 0.06% of Viking Therapeutics worth $2,887,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Stone House Investment Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Viking Therapeutics by 66.7% during the third 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 period. Blue Trust Inc. grew its position 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 acquiring an additional 309 shares in the last quarter. YANKCOM Partnership acquired a new position in Viking Therapeutics in the 4th quarter valued at about $33,000. S.A. Mason LLC increased its stake 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 purchasing an additional 300 shares during the period. Finally, Wolff Wiese Magana LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Viking Therapeutics during the fourth quarter worth about $75,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.03% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

VKTX has been the topic of several recent research reports. Citigroup assumed coverage on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a research note on Friday, February 7th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $38.00 target price on the stock. HC Wainwright reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $102.00 price objective on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a research note on Tuesday, March 11th. Scotiabank initiated coverage on Viking Therapeutics in a report on Thursday, February 13th. They issued a “sector outperform” rating and a $102.00 target price for the company. Piper Sandler cut their price target on Viking Therapeutics from $74.00 to $71.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, Raymond James lifted their price objective on Viking Therapeutics from $122.00 to $125.00 and gave the company a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has issued a hold rating, eleven have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Viking Therapeutics has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $97.67.

Viking Therapeutics Stock Up 1.1 %

NASDAQ:VKTX opened at $29.28 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $3.29 billion, a PE ratio of -29.28 and a beta of 0.90. Viking Therapeutics, Inc. has a 52-week low of $24.41 and a 52-week high of $89.10. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $30.84 and its 200 day moving average price is $47.33.

Viking Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VKTX) last announced its earnings results 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 last year, the firm posted ($0.25) EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Viking Therapeutics, Inc. will post -1.56 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Viking Therapeutics

In other news, COO Marianna Mancini sold 54,215 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $42.75, for a total value of $2,317,691.25. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 374,134 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $15,994,228.50. The trade was a 12.66 % 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, CFO Greg Zante sold 50,309 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the chief financial officer now owns 165,259 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,064,822.25. This trade 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. 4.70% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.