Bellevue Group AG Takes $326,000 Position in Viking Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VKTX)

Bellevue Group AG bought a new stake in Viking Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VKTX) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 17,500 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock, valued at approximately $326,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Affinity Asset Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Viking Therapeutics by 1,020.2% in the fourth quarter. Affinity Asset Advisors LLC now owns 300,000 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $5,583,000 after purchasing an additional 332,600 shares during the period. NEOS Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in Viking Therapeutics in the fourth quarter valued at $271,000. Campbell & CO Investment Adviser LLC acquired a new stake in Viking Therapeutics in the fourth quarter valued at $545,000. Eagle Asset Management Inc. acquired a new stake in Viking Therapeutics in the fourth quarter valued at $4,872,000. Finally, Dorsey & Whitney Trust CO LLC acquired a new stake in Viking Therapeutics in the fourth quarter valued at $341,000. 76.03% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Viking Therapeutics

In related news, CFO Greg Zante sold 66,756 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $74.69, for a total value of $4,986,005.64. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 174,854 shares in the company, valued at approximately $13,059,845.26. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. In other news, COO Marianna Mancini sold 281,425 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $78.66, for a total transaction of $22,136,890.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 348,508 shares in the company, valued at approximately $27,413,639.28. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CFO Greg Zante sold 66,756 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $74.69, for a total transaction of $4,986,005.64. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 174,854 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $13,059,845.26. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 4.70% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Viking Therapeutics Stock Down 1.5 %

VKTX stock opened at $55.51 on Tuesday. 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 $69.40 and its 200 day simple moving average is $47.85.

Viking Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VKTX) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, April 24th. The biotechnology company reported ($0.26) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.27) by $0.01. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted ($0.25) earnings per share. As a group, analysts forecast that Viking Therapeutics, Inc. will post -1.08 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts recently issued reports on VKTX shares. Jefferies Financial Group started coverage on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a report on Thursday, March 7th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $110.00 price target on the stock. Oppenheimer upped their price target on shares of Viking Therapeutics from $116.00 to $138.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 26th. Raymond James reaffirmed a “strong-buy” rating on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a report on Tuesday, June 4th. Maxim Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $120.00 price target on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a report on Tuesday, June 4th. Finally, HC Wainwright reissued a “buy” rating and set a $90.00 target price on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a report on Tuesday, June 4th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Viking Therapeutics presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $112.38.

About Viking Therapeutics

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.