Aristides Capital LLC Acquires 6,000 Shares of Viking Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VKTX)

Aristides Capital LLC boosted its holdings in Viking Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VKTX) by 120.0% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 11,000 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock after purchasing an additional 6,000 shares during the period. Aristides Capital LLC’s holdings in Viking Therapeutics were worth $583,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in VKTX. Avoro Capital Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Viking Therapeutics in the first quarter worth $294,380,000. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Viking Therapeutics by 44.7% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 7,785,724 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $638,429,000 after acquiring an additional 2,403,820 shares during the last quarter. Perpetual Ltd bought a new position in shares of Viking Therapeutics during the first quarter valued at about $78,586,000. Hood River Capital Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Viking Therapeutics during the first quarter valued at about $55,098,000. Finally, Westfield Capital Management Co. LP bought a new position in shares of Viking Therapeutics during the first quarter valued at about $54,295,000. 76.03% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Brian Lian sold 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $69.90, for a total transaction of $69,900.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 2,354,927 shares in the company, valued at $164,609,397.30. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. In related news, Director J Matthew Singleton sold 20,786 shares of Viking Therapeutics stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $57.53, for a total transaction of $1,195,818.58. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 9,500 shares in the company, valued at $546,535. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Brian Lian sold 1,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $69.90, for a total value of $69,900.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 2,354,927 shares in the company, valued at $164,609,397.30. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 516,671 shares of company stock worth $33,810,813. 4.70% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have recently commented on VKTX. StockNews.com raised shares of Viking Therapeutics to a “sell” rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 24th. Truist Financial reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $120.00 price target on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a research note on Monday, June 17th. Maxim Group reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $120.00 price target on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a research note on Tuesday, June 4th. HC Wainwright reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $90.00 price target on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a research note on Thursday, July 25th. Finally, Oppenheimer reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $138.00 price target on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a research note on Wednesday, September 25th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Viking Therapeutics presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $108.60.

Viking Therapeutics Stock Performance

Shares of VKTX opened at $63.31 on Tuesday. The stock has a market cap of $6.98 billion, a PE ratio of -68.08 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 firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $60.25 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $62.76.

Viking Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VKTX) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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 quarter in the previous year, the firm posted ($0.19) earnings per share. Equities research analysts predict that Viking Therapeutics, Inc. will post -1 EPS for the current year.

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.