Viking Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VKTX) Shares Acquired by State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D

State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D raised its holdings in shares of Viking Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VKTX) by 8.5% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 40,753 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock after purchasing an additional 3,192 shares during the quarter. State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D’s holdings in Viking Therapeutics were worth $1,640,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of VKTX. Signaturefd LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Viking Therapeutics by 16.2% in the 3rd quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 1,351 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $86,000 after buying an additional 188 shares during the period. Stone House Investment Management LLC boosted 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 acquiring an additional 200 shares during the period. Keudell Morrison Wealth Management grew its holdings in shares of Viking Therapeutics by 5.9% during the third quarter. Keudell Morrison Wealth Management now owns 4,306 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $273,000 after purchasing an additional 241 shares during the last quarter. S.A. Mason LLC raised its position in shares of Viking Therapeutics by 20.0% during the 4th quarter. S.A. Mason LLC now owns 1,800 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $72,000 after purchasing an additional 300 shares during the period. Finally, Blue Trust Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Viking Therapeutics by 75.9% in the 4th quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 716 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 309 shares during the last quarter. 76.03% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Viking Therapeutics Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:VKTX opened at $28.32 on Wednesday. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $35.55 and its 200 day simple moving average is $51.68. Viking Therapeutics, Inc. has a 1 year low of $27.50 and a 1 year high of $99.41. The company has a market capitalization of $3.16 billion, a P/E ratio of -28.32 and a beta of 0.90.

Viking Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VKTX) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The biotechnology company reported ($0.32) earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.27) by ($0.05). During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned ($0.25) earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Viking Therapeutics, Inc. will post -1.56 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have issued reports on VKTX. Maxim Group reduced 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. B. Riley reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $96.00 price objective (down from $109.00) on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Citigroup assumed coverage on Viking Therapeutics in a research report on Friday, February 7th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $38.00 target price on the stock. William Blair reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a research report on Wednesday, November 20th. Finally, HC Wainwright reissued a “buy” rating and set a $102.00 price target on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a report on Thursday, February 6th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has issued a hold rating, thirteen have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Viking Therapeutics has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $97.29.

Insider Buying and Selling

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

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.