Tidal Investments LLC Increases Position in Viking Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VKTX)

Tidal Investments LLC lifted its holdings in Viking Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VKTX) by 296.8% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 15,190 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock after buying an additional 11,362 shares during the quarter. Tidal Investments LLC’s holdings in Viking Therapeutics were worth $962,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Blue Trust Inc. bought a new position in Viking Therapeutics in the 3rd quarter valued at $26,000. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its holdings in shares of Viking Therapeutics by 124.6% in the third quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 438 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $28,000 after purchasing an additional 243 shares during the last quarter. Gilliland Jeter Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Viking Therapeutics in the third quarter worth about $32,000. Stone House Investment Management LLC increased its stake in Viking Therapeutics by 66.7% in the 3rd 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. Finally, Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV lifted its holdings in Viking Therapeutics by 84.3% during the 3rd quarter. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV now owns 553 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $35,000 after buying an additional 253 shares in the last quarter. 76.03% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have recently commented on VKTX. William Blair reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a research report on Wednesday, November 20th. HC Wainwright restated a “buy” rating and set a $102.00 price objective on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a report on Wednesday. Morgan Stanley reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $105.00 target price on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a report on Thursday, September 12th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. began coverage on Viking Therapeutics in a research report on Wednesday, September 11th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $80.00 price target on the stock. Finally, Oppenheimer restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $138.00 price objective on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a report on Wednesday, September 25th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $106.75.

Insider Transactions at Viking Therapeutics

In other Viking Therapeutics news, CFO Greg Zante sold 131,687 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, October 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $76.61, for a total value of $10,088,541.07. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 149,366 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,442,929.26. This trade represents a 46.85 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Sarah Kathryn Rouan sold 11,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, October 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $80.89, for a total value of $889,790.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 9,500 shares in the company, valued at $768,455. The trade was a 53.66 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 144,687 shares of company stock valued at $11,115,671 in the last quarter. 4.70% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Viking Therapeutics Stock Performance

VKTX stock opened at $41.49 on Friday. Viking Therapeutics, Inc. has a one year low of $17.23 and a one year high of $99.41. The firm has a market cap of $4.62 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -44.61 and a beta of 0.88. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $58.05 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $57.95.

Viking Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VKTX) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The biotechnology company reported ($0.22) EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.24) by $0.02. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted ($0.23) EPS. As a group, equities analysts predict that Viking Therapeutics, Inc. will post -0.97 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.