Viking Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VKTX) Shares Bought by Profund Advisors LLC

Profund Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Viking Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VKTX) by 176.0% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 59,585 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock after buying an additional 37,997 shares during the quarter. Profund Advisors LLC owned approximately 0.05% of Viking Therapeutics worth $3,159,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Avoro Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Viking Therapeutics in the 1st quarter valued at $294,380,000. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Viking Therapeutics by 44.7% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 7,785,724 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $638,429,000 after purchasing an additional 2,403,820 shares during the period. Perpetual Ltd acquired a new position in Viking Therapeutics in the first quarter valued at $78,586,000. Hood River Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in Viking Therapeutics during the first quarter worth about $55,098,000. Finally, Westfield Capital Management Co. LP acquired a new position in shares of Viking Therapeutics during the 1st quarter valued at about $54,295,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.03% of the company’s stock.

Viking Therapeutics Trading Up 3.4 %

NASDAQ VKTX opened at $70.47 on Monday. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $59.08 and its 200-day simple moving average is $63.01. 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 52 week low of $8.28 and a 52 week high of $99.41.

Viking Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VKTX) last announced 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 period last year, the company earned ($0.19) EPS. On average, research analysts expect that Viking Therapeutics, Inc. will post -1 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Viking Therapeutics

In other news, CEO Brian Lian sold 1,000 shares of the 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 completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2,354,927 shares in the company, valued at approximately $164,609,397.30. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In other news, Director J Matthew Singleton sold 20,786 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $57.53, for a total value of $1,195,818.58. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 9,500 shares in the company, valued at approximately $546,535. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Brian Lian sold 1,000 shares of Viking Therapeutics stock in a transaction 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 completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2,354,927 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $164,609,397.30. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 516,671 shares of company stock worth $33,810,813 in the last 90 days. 4.70% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Truist Financial restated a “buy” rating and issued a $120.00 target price on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a report on Monday, June 17th. StockNews.com upgraded Viking Therapeutics to a “sell” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. HC Wainwright reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $90.00 target price on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a research report on Thursday, July 25th. Maxim Group reissued a “buy” rating and set a $120.00 price target on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a research report on Tuesday, June 4th. Finally, Morgan Stanley restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $105.00 price objective on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a report on Thursday, September 12th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $108.60.

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.