Oak Ridge Investments LLC Invests $837,000 in Viking Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VKTX)

Oak Ridge Investments LLC acquired a new position in Viking Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VKTX) in the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 13,222 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock, valued at approximately $837,000.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Viking Therapeutics by 1.8% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 5,381,904 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $100,157,000 after buying an additional 97,552 shares in the last quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC bought a new stake in shares of Viking Therapeutics in the 1st quarter valued at about $607,000. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC bought a new stake in shares of Viking Therapeutics in the 1st quarter valued at about $1,422,000. Private Advisor Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of Viking Therapeutics in the 1st quarter valued at about $369,000. Finally, Janney Montgomery Scott LLC purchased a new position in shares of Viking Therapeutics in the 1st quarter worth approximately $2,385,000. 76.03% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Oppenheimer reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $138.00 price objective on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a research report on Wednesday, September 25th. Morgan Stanley restated an “overweight” rating and set a $105.00 price objective on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a research note on Thursday, September 12th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. began coverage on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a research note on Wednesday, September 11th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $80.00 price objective for the company. HC Wainwright reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $90.00 target price on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded shares of Viking Therapeutics to a “sell” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 15th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Viking Therapeutics presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $108.60.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director J Matthew Singleton sold 20,786 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $57.53, for a total transaction of $1,195,818.58. Following the sale, the director now owns 9,500 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $546,535. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In related news, Director J Matthew Singleton sold 20,786 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $57.53, for a total value of $1,195,818.58. Following the sale, the director now owns 9,500 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $546,535. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Brian Lian sold 1,000 shares of the firm’s 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 completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2,354,927 shares in the company, valued at approximately $164,609,397.30. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 525,473 shares of company stock valued at $37,088,158 over the last 90 days. 4.70% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Viking Therapeutics Price Performance

Shares of VKTX opened at $72.88 on Friday. Viking Therapeutics, Inc. has a 12-month low of $9.34 and a 12-month high of $99.41. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $64.44 and a 200 day moving average price of $61.86.

Viking Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VKTX) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The biotechnology company reported ($0.22) earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.24) by $0.02. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted ($0.23) EPS. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Viking Therapeutics, Inc. will post -0.98 earnings per share 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.