Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC Purchases Shares of 7,772 Viking Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VKTX)

Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC purchased a new stake in Viking Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VKTX) in the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor purchased 7,772 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock, valued at approximately $492,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in VKTX. International Assets Investment Management LLC boosted its position in Viking Therapeutics by 10,775.6% in the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 1,004,033 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $63,565,000 after buying an additional 994,801 shares during the period. Perpetual Ltd lifted its position in shares of Viking Therapeutics by 55.4% during the 3rd quarter. Perpetual Ltd now owns 1,269,152 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $80,350,000 after purchasing an additional 452,344 shares during the last quarter. Fiera Capital Corp purchased a new stake in shares of Viking Therapeutics during the 3rd quarter worth $18,443,000. Eventide Asset Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Viking Therapeutics by 79.1% during the 3rd quarter. Eventide Asset Management LLC now owns 452,969 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $28,677,000 after purchasing an additional 200,000 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Nepsis Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Viking Therapeutics during the 3rd quarter worth $11,251,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.03% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Viking Therapeutics

In other news, Director Sarah Kathryn Rouan sold 11,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, October 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $80.89, for a total transaction of $889,790.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 9,500 shares in the company, valued at $768,455. The trade was a 53.66 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, Director J Matthew Singleton sold 10,300 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $69.50, for a total transaction of $715,850.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 9,500 shares in the company, valued at approximately $660,250. This trade represents a 52.02 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 371,117 shares of company stock worth $27,140,009. 4.70% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Viking Therapeutics Stock Performance

NASDAQ VKTX opened at $46.70 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $5.20 billion, a PE ratio of -50.22 and a beta of 0.88. Viking Therapeutics, Inc. has a one year low of $17.23 and a one year high of $99.41. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $58.96 and its two-hundred day moving average is $58.20.

Viking Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VKTX) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 23rd. The biotechnology company reported ($0.22) EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.24) by $0.02. During the same quarter last year, the business earned ($0.23) earnings per share. Research analysts predict that Viking Therapeutics, Inc. will post -0.97 earnings per share for the current year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. B. Riley assumed coverage on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a research report on Friday, November 22nd. They set a “buy” rating and a $109.00 price objective for the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. assumed coverage on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a research report on Wednesday, September 11th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $80.00 price objective for the company. HC Wainwright reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $102.00 price objective on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a research report on Tuesday, November 26th. StockNews.com raised shares of Viking Therapeutics to a “sell” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 15th. Finally, Morgan Stanley reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $105.00 price target on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a research report on Thursday, September 12th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $106.75.

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.