Institute for Wealth Management LLC. Increases Stake in Viking Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VKTX)

Institute for Wealth Management LLC. lifted its stake in Viking Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VKTX) by 12.1% during the 1st quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 90,337 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock after buying an additional 9,735 shares during the quarter. Institute for Wealth Management LLC.’s holdings in Viking Therapeutics were worth $2,182,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of VKTX. Parallel Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Viking Therapeutics by 64.8% in the 1st quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 1,363 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $33,000 after acquiring an additional 536 shares during the last quarter. FIL Ltd grew its position in shares of Viking Therapeutics by 116.8% during the fourth quarter. FIL Ltd now owns 1,203 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $48,000 after purchasing an additional 648 shares in the last quarter. NBC Securities Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Viking Therapeutics by 222,100.0% in the first quarter. NBC Securities Inc. now owns 2,222 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $53,000 after purchasing an additional 2,221 shares during the last quarter. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC lifted its position in shares of Viking Therapeutics by 170.2% in the fourth quarter. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC now owns 1,351 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $55,000 after buying an additional 851 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Future Financial Wealth Managment LLC boosted its stake in Viking Therapeutics by 1,242.9% during the first quarter. Future Financial Wealth Managment LLC now owns 2,350 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $57,000 after buying an additional 2,175 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.03% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have issued reports on VKTX. Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on Viking Therapeutics from $105.00 to $102.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 24th. Cantor Fitzgerald upgraded shares of Viking Therapeutics to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 29th. HC Wainwright reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $102.00 price target on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a research note on Thursday, April 24th. Truist Financial reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $75.00 price objective (down from $95.00) on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a research note on Monday, April 28th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group began coverage on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a report on Tuesday, April 8th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $30.00 target price on the stock. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating, ten have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $87.15.

Insider Transactions at Viking Therapeutics

In related news, Director Sarah Kathryn Rouan bought 1,240 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 31st. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $24.15 per share, with a total value of $29,946.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now owns 1,240 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $29,946. This trade represents a ∞ increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Company insiders own 4.10% of the company’s stock.

Viking Therapeutics Trading Down 0.6%

Viking Therapeutics stock opened at $26.28 on Thursday. Viking Therapeutics, Inc. has a 12-month low of $18.92 and a 12-month high of $81.73. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $26.73 and a 200-day moving average price of $31.61. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.95 billion, a PE ratio of -22.85 and a beta of 0.65.

Viking Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VKTX) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 23rd. The biotechnology company reported ($0.41) earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.31) by ($0.10). During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned ($0.26) EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up .0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Viking Therapeutics, Inc. will post -1.56 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Viking Therapeutics 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.