ADAR1 Capital Management LLC Boosts Holdings in Viking Therapeutics, Inc. $VKTX

ADAR1 Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Viking Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VKTX) by 538.8% in the first quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 59,413 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock after acquiring an additional 50,113 shares during the quarter. ADAR1 Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Viking Therapeutics were worth $1,435,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Northern Trust Corp increased its position in Viking Therapeutics by 11.4% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 535,984 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $21,568,000 after buying an additional 54,871 shares during the last quarter. Freestone Grove Partners LP bought a new stake in shares of Viking Therapeutics in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $224,000. Aptus Capital Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Viking Therapeutics by 27.7% during the 4th quarter. Aptus Capital Advisors LLC now owns 48,707 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $1,960,000 after buying an additional 10,564 shares in the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Viking Therapeutics by 228.5% during the 4th quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 1,479,596 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $59,540,000 after buying an additional 1,029,125 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald L. P. bought a new position in Viking Therapeutics in the 4th quarter worth approximately $380,000. Institutional investors own 76.03% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, COO Marianna Mancini sold 4,266 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, July 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $27.77, for a total value of $118,466.82. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer owned 377,535 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $10,484,146.95. This represents a 1.12% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Brian Lian sold 26,889 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, July 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $27.80, for a total transaction of $747,514.20. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 2,388,014 shares in the company, valued at approximately $66,386,789.20. This trade represents a 1.11% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 35,421 shares of company stock valued at $984,405 in the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 4.10% of the company’s stock.

Viking Therapeutics Stock Down 1.9%

NASDAQ:VKTX opened at $27.05 on Tuesday. The stock has a market cap of $3.04 billion, a P/E ratio of -17.68 and a beta of 0.73. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $31.24 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $28.46. Viking Therapeutics, Inc. has a twelve month low of $18.92 and a twelve month high of $81.73.

Viking Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VKTX) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 23rd. The biotechnology company reported ($0.58) EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.44) by ($0.14). The business’s revenue was up NaN% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned ($0.20) earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts expect that Viking Therapeutics, Inc. will post -1.56 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on VKTX shares. Citigroup raised their price target on Viking Therapeutics from $31.00 to $38.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, July 24th. HC Wainwright restated a “buy” rating and issued a $102.00 price objective on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a research report on Tuesday, August 19th. Finally, Raymond James Financial reduced their price objective on shares of Viking Therapeutics from $125.00 to $122.00 and set a “strong-buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, July 24th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have given a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $86.92.

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.