D.A. Davidson & CO. Boosts Stock Holdings in Viking Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VKTX)

D.A. Davidson & CO. boosted its position in Viking Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VKTX) by 94.6% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 7,480 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock after acquiring an additional 3,636 shares during the quarter. D.A. Davidson & CO.’s holdings in Viking Therapeutics were worth $301,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Truist Financial Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Viking Therapeutics by 27.6% in the fourth quarter. Truist Financial Corp now owns 8,840 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $356,000 after acquiring an additional 1,912 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Viking Therapeutics by 5.9% during the fourth quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 628,764 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $25,301,000 after buying an additional 35,236 shares in the last quarter. State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D grew its holdings in shares of Viking Therapeutics by 8.5% in the 4th quarter. State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D now owns 40,753 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $1,640,000 after acquiring an additional 3,192 shares during the period. MN Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Viking Therapeutics in the 4th quarter valued at about $237,000. Finally, Quantum Private Wealth LLC increased its stake in shares of Viking Therapeutics by 2.2% during the 4th quarter. Quantum Private Wealth LLC now owns 85,916 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $3,457,000 after purchasing an additional 1,832 shares in the last quarter. 76.03% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have commented on VKTX shares. Maxim Group lowered their target price on shares of Viking Therapeutics from $120.00 to $70.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, February 7th. HC Wainwright restated a “buy” rating and issued a $102.00 price target on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Raymond James upped their target price on Viking Therapeutics from $122.00 to $125.00 and gave the stock a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. William Blair restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a research note on Wednesday, November 20th. Finally, Piper Sandler cut their price target on shares of Viking Therapeutics from $74.00 to $71.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, February 6th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has given a hold rating, thirteen have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $97.29.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Viking Therapeutics news, COO Marianna Mancini sold 54,215 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $42.75, for a total transaction of $2,317,691.25. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 374,134 shares in the company, valued at $15,994,228.50. This represents a 12.66 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CFO Greg Zante sold 50,309 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, January 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $42.75, for a total value of $2,150,709.75. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 165,259 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,064,822.25. This trade represents a 23.34 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 299,014 shares of company stock worth $12,782,849. Company insiders own 4.70% of the company’s stock.

Viking Therapeutics Trading Down 1.8 %

Shares of NASDAQ:VKTX opened at $27.82 on Thursday. Viking Therapeutics, Inc. has a 1-year low of $27.20 and a 1-year high of $99.41. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.10 billion, a P/E ratio of -27.82 and a beta of 0.90. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $35.34 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $51.52.

Viking Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VKTX) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 5th. The biotechnology company reported ($0.32) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.27) by ($0.05). During the same quarter last year, the business posted ($0.25) earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts predict that Viking Therapeutics, Inc. will post -1.56 EPS 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.