Sanctuary Advisors LLC Makes New Investment in Viking Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VKTX)

Sanctuary Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Viking Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VKTX) during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 3,580 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock, valued at approximately $190,000.

Several other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in VKTX. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV bought a new position in shares of Viking Therapeutics in the first quarter worth $25,000. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. bought a new position in shares of Viking Therapeutics in the second quarter worth $27,000. Meeder Asset Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Viking Therapeutics by 140.8% in the second quarter. Meeder Asset Management Inc. now owns 802 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $43,000 after purchasing an additional 469 shares during the period. Quest Partners LLC increased its position in shares of Viking Therapeutics by 123.8% in the second quarter. Quest Partners LLC now owns 1,258 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $67,000 after purchasing an additional 696 shares during the period. Finally, Hollencrest Capital Management bought a new position in shares of Viking Therapeutics in the first quarter worth $120,000. Institutional investors own 76.03% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Viking Therapeutics

In other news, Director J Matthew Singleton sold 20,786 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the director now directly owns 9,500 shares in the company, valued at approximately $546,535. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In other Viking Therapeutics news, Director J Matthew Singleton sold 20,786 shares of the 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 owns 9,500 shares in the company, valued at approximately $546,535. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, 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 completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 362,149 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $20,689,572.37. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 516,671 shares of company stock worth $33,810,813. 4.70% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Viking Therapeutics Stock Performance

NASDAQ:VKTX opened at $65.80 on Monday. The firm has a market cap of $7.26 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -70.75 and a beta of 1.00. The business’s fifty day moving average is $62.64 and its 200 day moving average is $61.95. 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, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.26) by $0.06. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned ($0.19) earnings per share. Equities analysts predict that Viking Therapeutics, Inc. will post -1 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

VKTX has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Raymond James raised their price objective 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. HC Wainwright reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $90.00 price objective on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a research note on Wednesday, October 9th. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $105.00 price objective on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a research note on Thursday, September 12th. StockNews.com raised Viking Therapeutics to a “sell” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 15th. Finally, Oppenheimer reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $138.00 price objective on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a research note on Wednesday, September 25th. One investment 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’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target 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.