Viking Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VKTX) Shares Purchased by CNB Bank

CNB Bank grew its position in Viking Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VKTX) by 185.4% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 2,206 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,433 shares during the quarter. CNB Bank’s holdings in Viking Therapeutics were worth $89,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Blue Trust Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Viking Therapeutics in the third quarter worth about $26,000. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its position in shares of Viking Therapeutics by 124.6% in the third quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 438 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $28,000 after purchasing an additional 243 shares in the last quarter. Gilliland Jeter Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Viking Therapeutics in the third quarter valued at approximately $32,000. Stone House Investment Management LLC lifted its position in Viking Therapeutics by 66.7% during the third quarter. Stone House Investment Management LLC now owns 500 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $32,000 after buying an additional 200 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV boosted its stake in Viking Therapeutics by 84.3% during the third quarter. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV now owns 553 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $35,000 after buying an additional 253 shares during the last quarter. 76.03% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have issued reports on the company. StockNews.com raised Viking Therapeutics to a “sell” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 15th. Piper Sandler assumed coverage on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a research note on Monday, December 2nd. They set an “overweight” rating and a $74.00 target price on the stock. William Blair restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a report on Wednesday, November 20th. Oppenheimer reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $138.00 price objective on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a report on Wednesday, September 25th. Finally, HC Wainwright reissued a “buy” rating and set a $102.00 target price on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $106.75.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Viking Therapeutics news, CEO Brian Lian sold 194,490 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, January 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $42.75, for a total transaction of $8,314,447.50. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 2,366,570 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $101,170,867.50. This trade represents a 7.59 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, 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 value of $889,790.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 9,500 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $768,455. The trade was a 53.66 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 443,701 shares of company stock valued at $23,898,520. 4.70% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Viking Therapeutics Trading Up 2.1 %

Shares of VKTX stock opened at $33.24 on Friday. Viking Therapeutics, Inc. has a 12 month low of $20.47 and a 12 month high of $99.41. The company has a market cap of $3.70 billion, a P/E ratio of -35.77 and a beta of 0.95. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $46.92 and a 200 day moving average price of $56.15.

Viking Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VKTX) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 23rd. The biotechnology company reported ($0.22) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.24) by $0.02. During the same period last year, the firm earned ($0.23) EPS. On average, equities analysts forecast that Viking Therapeutics, Inc. will post -0.97 EPS for the current year.

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.