Kintayl Capital LP Buys New Position in Viking Therapeutics, Inc. $VKTX

Kintayl Capital LP purchased a new position in shares of Viking Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VKTX) in the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor purchased 29,273 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,142,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Ballast Advisors LLC bought a new position in Viking Therapeutics during the 1st quarter valued at $33,000. Quattro Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Viking Therapeutics in the 4th quarter worth $37,000. Fifth Third Bancorp grew its stake in shares of Viking Therapeutics by 169.2% in the 4th quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 1,077 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $38,000 after acquiring an additional 677 shares in the last quarter. TD Waterhouse Canada Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Viking Therapeutics by 250.0% in the fourth quarter. TD Waterhouse Canada Inc. now owns 1,400 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $49,000 after purchasing an additional 1,000 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Cassaday & Co Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Viking Therapeutics in the first quarter valued at about $50,000. 76.03% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Brian Lian sold 148,517 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $33.32, for a total transaction of $4,948,586.44. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 2,572,441 shares in the company, valued at approximately $85,713,734.12. This represents a 5.46% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Also, CFO Greg Zante sold 21,217 shares of Viking Therapeutics stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $33.47, for a total value of $710,132.99. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 212,204 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,102,467.88. This trade represents a 9.09% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Insiders have sold 187,951 shares of company stock valued at $6,268,442 in the last 90 days. Insiders own 5.30% of the company’s stock.

Viking Therapeutics Trading Up 2.8%

Viking Therapeutics stock opened at $34.17 on Wednesday. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $35.45 and its 200 day simple moving average is $33.21. Viking Therapeutics, Inc. has a 12 month low of $22.96 and a 12 month high of $43.15. The company has a market cap of $3.99 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -7.33 and a beta of 0.69.

Viking Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VKTX) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, July 29th. The biotechnology company reported ($1.10) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of ($1.21) by $0.11. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up .0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned ($0.58) earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Viking Therapeutics, Inc. will post -4.47 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

VKTX has been the topic of several analyst reports. Lake Street Capital initiated coverage on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a report on Thursday, May 28th. They set a “buy” rating and a $89.00 price target on the stock. Canaccord Genuity Group increased their price objective on shares of Viking Therapeutics from $107.00 to $114.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 30th. Morgan Stanley set a $95.00 target price on Viking Therapeutics in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their target price on Viking Therapeutics from $75.00 to $65.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, August 11th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a research report on Friday, July 17th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have assigned a Buy rating, two have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $96.62.

About Viking Therapeutics

Viking Therapeutics, Inc is a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company focused on the development of novel therapies for metabolic and endocrine disorders. Headquartered in San Diego, California, the company’s pipeline leverages small-molecule approaches to target hormone signaling pathways implicated in conditions such as non‐alcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH), dyslipidemia, type 2 diabetes and muscle wasting disorders.

The company’s lead programs include VK2809, a thyroid hormone receptor‐beta agonist designed to reduce liver fat and improve lipid profiles in patients with NASH and dyslipidemia, and VK5211, a selective androgen receptor modulator (SARM) aimed at enhancing muscle mass and function in individuals with muscle wasting conditions.