Viking Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VKTX) Shares Purchased by Oppenheimer & Co. Inc.

Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. increased its stake in shares of Viking Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VKTX) by 45.7% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 71,313 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock after purchasing an additional 22,369 shares during the period. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. owned 0.06% of Viking Therapeutics worth $3,780,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV acquired a new position in Viking Therapeutics in the 1st quarter valued at $25,000. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. acquired a new position in Viking Therapeutics in the 2nd quarter valued at $27,000. Lindbrook Capital LLC grew its stake in shares of Viking Therapeutics by 370.7% during the 1st quarter. Lindbrook Capital LLC now owns 353 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $29,000 after buying an additional 278 shares during the period. LifeSteps Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Viking Therapeutics during the 1st quarter valued at $37,000. Finally, Spire Wealth Management purchased a new stake in shares of Viking Therapeutics during the 1st quarter valued at $61,000. 76.03% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. StockNews.com raised shares of Viking Therapeutics to a “sell” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. Morgan Stanley reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $105.00 price objective on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a research note on Thursday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. assumed coverage on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a research note on Wednesday, September 11th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $80.00 price objective for the company. HC Wainwright reissued a “buy” rating and set a $90.00 price objective on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a research note on Thursday, July 25th. Finally, Truist Financial reissued a “buy” rating and set a $120.00 price objective on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a research note on Monday, June 17th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $108.60.

Viking Therapeutics Price Performance

NASDAQ:VKTX opened at $66.73 on Monday. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $58.00 and a two-hundred day moving average of $63.72. The stock has a market cap of $7.39 billion, a P/E ratio of -71.75 and a beta of 1.00. Viking Therapeutics, Inc. has a 1-year low of $8.28 and a 1-year high of $99.41.

Viking Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VKTX) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 24th. The biotechnology company reported ($0.20) earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.26) by $0.06. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned ($0.19) earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts expect that Viking Therapeutics, Inc. will post -0.99 earnings per share for the current 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 dated Wednesday, August 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $57.53, for a total value of $1,195,818.58. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 9,500 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $546,535. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In other news, Director J Matthew Singleton sold 20,786 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $57.53, for a total value of $1,195,818.58. Following the sale, the director now owns 9,500 shares in the company, valued at approximately $546,535. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, COO Marianna Mancini sold 18,026 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $57.13, for a total transaction of $1,029,825.38. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 362,149 shares in the company, valued at approximately $20,689,572.37. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 290,241 shares of company stock valued at $17,786,475 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 4.70% of the company’s stock.

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.