SeaCrest Wealth Management LLC Invests $690,000 in Viking Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VKTX)

SeaCrest Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Viking Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VKTX) in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor purchased 8,409 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock, valued at approximately $690,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in VKTX. Invesco Ltd. lifted its holdings in shares of Viking Therapeutics by 4.7% during the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 864,589 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $9,571,000 after acquiring an additional 38,695 shares during the period. Teza Capital Management LLC bought a new position in Viking Therapeutics in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $232,000. Schonfeld Strategic Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Viking Therapeutics by 17.3% in the 3rd quarter. Schonfeld Strategic Advisors LLC now owns 53,900 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $597,000 after purchasing an additional 7,947 shares during the last quarter. GSA Capital Partners LLP lifted its stake in Viking Therapeutics by 48.5% in the 3rd quarter. GSA Capital Partners LLP now owns 89,741 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $993,000 after purchasing an additional 29,319 shares during the last quarter. Finally, American Century Companies Inc. lifted its stake in Viking Therapeutics by 59.6% in the 3rd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 2,202,228 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $24,379,000 after purchasing an additional 822,156 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 76.03% of the company’s stock.

Viking Therapeutics Trading Down 2.1 %

VKTX opened at $50.47 on Thursday. Viking Therapeutics, Inc. has a twelve month low of $8.28 and a twelve month high of $99.41. The company has a fifty day moving average of $62.64 and a 200-day moving average of $52.18.

Viking Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VKTX) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 24th. The biotechnology company reported ($0.26) earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.27) by $0.01. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned ($0.25) EPS. As a group, analysts forecast that Viking Therapeutics, Inc. will post -1.11 EPS for the current year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts recently commented on the stock. HC Wainwright reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $90.00 price objective on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a research note on Monday, June 24th. Oppenheimer increased their price objective on shares of Viking Therapeutics from $116.00 to $138.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 26th. Truist Financial reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $120.00 price objective on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a research note on Monday, June 17th. Maxim Group restated a “buy” rating and issued a $120.00 price target on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a research report on Tuesday, June 4th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group began coverage on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a research report on Thursday, March 7th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $110.00 price target for the company. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Viking Therapeutics presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $111.56.

Insider Buying and Selling at Viking Therapeutics

In other Viking Therapeutics news, COO Marianna Mancini sold 281,425 shares of Viking Therapeutics stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $78.66, for a total value of $22,136,890.50. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 348,508 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $27,413,639.28. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In other news, CFO Greg Zante sold 66,756 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $74.69, for a total transaction of $4,986,005.64. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 174,854 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $13,059,845.26. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, COO Marianna Mancini sold 281,425 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $78.66, for a total transaction of $22,136,890.50. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 348,508 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $27,413,639.28. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 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.