146,900 Shares in Viking Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VKTX) Purchased by Discovery Capital Management LLC CT

Discovery Capital Management LLC CT acquired a new stake in shares of Viking Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VKTX) in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 146,900 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,787,000. Viking Therapeutics comprises 1.0% of Discovery Capital Management LLC CT’s portfolio, making the stock its 23rd largest holding. Discovery Capital Management LLC CT owned approximately 0.13% of Viking Therapeutics as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in VKTX. Profund Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Viking Therapeutics by 176.0% in the second quarter. Profund Advisors LLC now owns 59,585 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $3,159,000 after purchasing an additional 37,997 shares during the period. Ensign Peak Advisors Inc grew its position in Viking Therapeutics by 58.0% in the 2nd quarter. Ensign Peak Advisors Inc now owns 452,011 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $23,961,000 after buying an additional 165,851 shares during the last quarter. WealthTrust Asset Management LLC increased its stake in Viking Therapeutics by 23.9% in the 2nd quarter. WealthTrust Asset Management LLC now owns 5,700 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $302,000 after buying an additional 1,100 shares during the period. Hollencrest Capital Management increased its stake in Viking Therapeutics by 68.5% in the 2nd quarter. Hollencrest Capital Management now owns 2,459 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $130,000 after buying an additional 1,000 shares during the period. Finally, Inspire Investing LLC raised its position in Viking Therapeutics by 48.1% during the 2nd quarter. Inspire Investing LLC now owns 6,481 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $344,000 after buying an additional 2,105 shares during the last quarter. 76.03% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Viking Therapeutics

In related news, CEO Brian Lian sold 115,859 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $57.58, for a total value of $6,671,161.22. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 2,354,927 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $135,596,696.66. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. In other Viking Therapeutics news, Director J Matthew Singleton sold 20,786 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $57.53, for a total transaction of $1,195,818.58. Following the sale, 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 Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Brian Lian sold 115,859 shares of the business’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 transaction of $6,671,161.22. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2,354,927 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $135,596,696.66. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 516,671 shares of company stock valued at $33,810,813 in the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 4.70% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. initiated coverage on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a report on Wednesday, September 11th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $80.00 target price on the stock. Maxim Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $120.00 price objective on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a report on Tuesday, June 4th. Raymond James increased their target price on Viking Therapeutics from $116.00 to $118.00 and gave the stock a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 25th. StockNews.com upgraded Viking Therapeutics to a “sell” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. Finally, Morgan Stanley reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $105.00 price objective on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a research report on Thursday, September 12th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Viking Therapeutics has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $108.60.

Viking Therapeutics Stock Up 3.4 %

Shares of VKTX stock opened at $70.47 on Monday. The stock has a market cap of $7.77 billion, a P/E ratio of -75.77 and a beta of 1.00. Viking Therapeutics, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $8.28 and a fifty-two week high of $99.41. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $59.08 and a 200-day simple moving average of $63.01.

Viking Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VKTX) last posted its 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 quarter in the previous year, the company earned ($0.19) EPS. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Viking Therapeutics, Inc. will post -1 earnings per share for the current year.

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.