LJI Wealth Management LLC Makes New Investment in Viking Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VKTX)

LJI Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Viking Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VKTX) in the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 30,200 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,601,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in VKTX. Lindbrook Capital LLC grew its position in Viking Therapeutics by 370.7% during the first 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. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV bought a new stake in shares of Viking Therapeutics during the 1st quarter valued at $25,000. 9258 Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Viking Therapeutics by 2.9% in the 1st quarter. 9258 Wealth Management LLC now owns 12,379 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $1,015,000 after purchasing an additional 351 shares in the last quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC lifted its position in Viking Therapeutics by 3.1% during the second quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC now owns 12,278 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $651,000 after purchasing an additional 372 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. grew its holdings in Viking Therapeutics by 5.5% during the second quarter. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. now owns 7,457 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $395,000 after purchasing an additional 386 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.03% of the company’s stock.

Viking Therapeutics Stock Up 2.4 %

Shares of Viking Therapeutics stock opened at $64.45 on Thursday. Viking Therapeutics, Inc. has a twelve month low of $8.28 and a twelve month high of $99.41. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $58.50 and a 200-day moving average price of $63.49. The firm has a market cap of $7.14 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -69.30 and a beta of 1.00.

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

VKTX has been the topic of several recent research reports. Truist Financial reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $120.00 price objective on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a research note on Monday, June 17th. HC Wainwright reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $90.00 price target on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a report on Thursday, July 25th. Morgan Stanley reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $105.00 price objective on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a research note on Thursday, September 12th. Raymond James lifted their target price on shares of Viking Therapeutics from $116.00 to $118.00 and gave the company a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 25th. Finally, Maxim Group reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $120.00 price target on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a research note on Tuesday, June 4th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $108.60.

Insider Activity at Viking Therapeutics

In related news, CEO Brian Lian sold 1,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $69.90, for a total transaction of $69,900.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 2,354,927 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $164,609,397.30. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In other Viking Therapeutics news, CEO Brian Lian sold 1,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $69.90, for a total transaction of $69,900.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2,354,927 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $164,609,397.30. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director J Matthew Singleton sold 20,786 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 $546,535. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 290,241 shares of company stock valued at $17,786,475. 4.70% of the stock is owned by corporate 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.