E Fund Management Co. Ltd. Has $1.08 Million Position in Viking Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VKTX)

E Fund Management Co. Ltd. boosted its position in Viking Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VKTX) by 237.5% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 20,380 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock after purchasing an additional 14,342 shares during the period. E Fund Management Co. Ltd.’s holdings in Viking Therapeutics were worth $1,080,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in Viking Therapeutics by 1.8% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 5,381,904 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $100,157,000 after purchasing an additional 97,552 shares in the last quarter. CWM LLC increased its stake in shares of Viking Therapeutics by 70.6% in the second quarter. CWM LLC now owns 1,518 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $80,000 after buying an additional 628 shares during the period. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Viking Therapeutics in the first quarter valued at about $1,422,000. Wasatch Advisors LP increased its stake in shares of Viking Therapeutics by 32.4% in the fourth quarter. Wasatch Advisors LP now owns 1,274,945 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $23,727,000 after buying an additional 311,681 shares during the period. Finally, Shell Asset Management Co. acquired a new stake in shares of Viking Therapeutics in the first quarter valued at about $262,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.03% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Viking Therapeutics news, COO Marianna Mancini sold 18,026 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $57.13, for a total value of $1,029,825.38. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 362,149 shares in the company, valued at $20,689,572.37. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other news, COO Marianna Mancini sold 18,026 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $57.13, for a total value of $1,029,825.38. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 362,149 shares in the company, valued at $20,689,572.37. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Brian Lian sold 115,859 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $57.58, for a total value of $6,671,161.22. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 2,354,927 shares in the company, valued at approximately $135,596,696.66. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 290,241 shares of company stock worth $17,786,475. Corporate insiders own 4.70% of the company’s stock.

Viking Therapeutics Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:VKTX opened at $64.45 on Thursday. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $58.50 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $63.49. The firm has a market cap of $7.14 billion, a P/E ratio of -69.30 and a beta of 1.00. Viking Therapeutics, Inc. has a 52-week low of $8.28 and a 52-week high of $99.41.

Viking Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VKTX) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 24th. The biotechnology company reported ($0.20) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.26) by $0.06. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted ($0.19) earnings per share. On average, equities analysts forecast that Viking Therapeutics, Inc. will post -1 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on VKTX shares. Raymond James increased their price target on Viking Therapeutics from $116.00 to $118.00 and gave the company a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 25th. Maxim Group reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $120.00 price target on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a research note on Tuesday, June 4th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. started coverage on Viking Therapeutics in a research note on Wednesday, September 11th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $80.00 price target for the company. StockNews.com raised Viking Therapeutics to a “sell” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. Finally, Truist Financial restated a “buy” rating and set a $120.00 target price on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a research report on Monday, June 17th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $108.60.

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.