Lisanti Capital Growth LLC Takes Position in Viking Therapeutics, Inc. $VKTX

Lisanti Capital Growth LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Viking Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VKTX) in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 42,835 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,135,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Glass Jacobson Investment Advisors llc purchased a new stake in Viking Therapeutics during the 2nd quarter valued at $28,000. Quarry LP increased its position in Viking Therapeutics by 1,621.4% during the first quarter. Quarry LP now owns 1,205 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $29,000 after acquiring an additional 1,135 shares during the last quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Viking Therapeutics by 33.4% in the second quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 1,818 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $48,000 after acquiring an additional 455 shares during the period. Farther Finance Advisors LLC boosted its position in Viking Therapeutics by 571.4% in the second quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 2,041 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $54,000 after purchasing an additional 1,737 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Flaharty Asset Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Viking Therapeutics during the 1st quarter valued at about $56,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.03% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Viking Therapeutics

In other news, Director Charles A. Rowland, Jr. sold 60,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, October 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $35.57, for a total transaction of $2,134,200.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 30,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,067,100. This represents a 66.67% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CFO Greg Zante sold 6,185 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, October 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $35.00, for a total transaction of $216,475.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer owned 173,592 shares in the company, valued at $6,075,720. This represents a 3.44% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 111,359 shares of company stock valued at $3,932,155. Insiders own 4.10% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on VKTX shares. Weiss Ratings reissued a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Cantor Fitzgerald set a $105.00 price objective on Viking Therapeutics in a research note on Thursday, October 23rd. Raymond James Financial decreased their target price on Viking Therapeutics from $125.00 to $122.00 and set a “strong-buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, July 24th. Citigroup boosted their price target on Viking Therapeutics from $31.00 to $38.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, July 24th. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on Viking Therapeutics from $98.00 to $102.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 23rd. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have assigned a Buy rating, two have assigned a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $87.07.

Viking Therapeutics Trading Down 1.3%

NASDAQ:VKTX opened at $36.77 on Friday. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $30.30 and a 200 day moving average price of $29.73. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.16 billion, a P/E ratio of -17.34 and a beta of 0.64. Viking Therapeutics, Inc. has a 12-month low of $18.92 and a 12-month high of $70.41.

Viking Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VKTX) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 22nd. The biotechnology company reported ($0.81) earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.67) by ($0.14). Viking Therapeutics’s revenue was up .0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company posted ($0.22) earnings per share. On average, research analysts predict that Viking Therapeutics, Inc. will post -1.56 earnings per share for the current fiscal 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.