Sanctuary Advisors LLC Increases Stake in Viking Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VKTX)

Sanctuary Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Viking Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VKTX) by 51.3% during the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 5,416 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock after buying an additional 1,836 shares during the period. Sanctuary Advisors LLC’s holdings in Viking Therapeutics were worth $343,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Signaturefd LLC raised its position in shares of Viking Therapeutics by 16.2% during the 3rd quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 1,351 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $86,000 after acquiring an additional 188 shares in the last quarter. Stone House Investment Management LLC increased its stake in Viking Therapeutics by 66.7% in the third quarter. Stone House Investment Management LLC now owns 500 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $32,000 after purchasing an additional 200 shares during the last quarter. Keudell Morrison Wealth Management raised its holdings in Viking Therapeutics by 5.9% during the third quarter. Keudell Morrison Wealth Management now owns 4,306 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $273,000 after purchasing an additional 241 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its position in shares of Viking Therapeutics by 124.6% during the 3rd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 438 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $28,000 after buying an additional 243 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV boosted its holdings in shares of Viking Therapeutics by 84.3% in the 3rd quarter. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV now owns 553 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $35,000 after buying an additional 253 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.03% of the company’s stock.

Viking Therapeutics Stock Down 3.6 %

Shares of Viking Therapeutics stock opened at $41.16 on Friday. Viking Therapeutics, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $17.23 and a fifty-two week high of $99.41. The business’s fifty day moving average is $55.25 and its two-hundred day moving average is $57.31. The firm has a market cap of $4.59 billion, a PE ratio of -44.26 and a beta of 0.88.

Viking Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VKTX) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The biotechnology company reported ($0.22) EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.24) by $0.02. During the same period last year, the business earned ($0.23) EPS. Equities research analysts anticipate that Viking Therapeutics, Inc. will post -0.97 EPS for the current year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on the company. Piper Sandler assumed coverage on Viking Therapeutics in a research note on Monday, December 2nd. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $74.00 price objective for the company. William Blair reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a research report on Wednesday, November 20th. Oppenheimer reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $138.00 price target on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a report on Wednesday, September 25th. StockNews.com raised Viking Therapeutics to a “sell” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 15th. Finally, HC Wainwright reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $102.00 target price on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a research note on Wednesday, December 18th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $106.75.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Lawson Macartney sold 2,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $68.67, for a total value of $137,340.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 47,965 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,293,756.55. The trade was a 4.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, Director Sarah Kathryn Rouan sold 11,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, October 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $80.89, for a total value of $889,790.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 9,500 shares in the company, valued at $768,455. This trade represents a 53.66 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 144,687 shares of company stock worth $11,115,671 in the last 90 days. 4.70% of the stock is owned by company 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.