Kingsview Wealth Management LLC Makes New Investment in Viking Therapeutics, Inc. $VKTX

Kingsview Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Viking Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VKTX) during the second quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor purchased 25,674 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,002,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. E Fund Management Co. Ltd. raised its holdings in Viking Therapeutics by 2.4% in the 2nd quarter. E Fund Management Co. Ltd. now owns 17,580 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $466,000 after acquiring an additional 406 shares during the last quarter. Prospera Financial Services Inc raised its stake in shares of Viking Therapeutics by 5.1% in the fourth quarter. Prospera Financial Services Inc now owns 9,365 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $329,000 after purchasing an additional 455 shares during the last quarter. Assetmark Inc. raised its stake in shares of Viking Therapeutics by 13.6% in the first quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 3,870 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $126,000 after purchasing an additional 462 shares during the last quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. lifted its holdings in shares of Viking Therapeutics by 29.5% during the second quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 2,109 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $56,000 after purchasing an additional 481 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Banque Cantonale Vaudoise boosted its position in shares of Viking Therapeutics by 16.7% during the third quarter. Banque Cantonale Vaudoise now owns 3,752 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $98,000 after buying an additional 536 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 76.03% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

VKTX has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Truist Financial began coverage on Viking Therapeutics in a report on Wednesday, May 27th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $83.00 price objective for the company. Canaccord Genuity Group raised their price target on shares of Viking Therapeutics from $107.00 to $114.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, July 30th. Lake Street Capital started coverage on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a research note on Thursday, May 28th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $89.00 price target for the company. Weiss Ratings reissued a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a report on Friday, July 17th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price objective on shares of Viking Therapeutics from $75.00 to $65.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, August 11th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have issued a Buy rating, two have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $96.62.

Viking Therapeutics Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:VKTX opened at $32.16 on Monday. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.75 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -6.90 and a beta of 0.69. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $35.64 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $33.33. Viking Therapeutics, Inc. has a 52-week low of $22.96 and a 52-week high of $43.15.

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CFO Greg Zante sold 21,217 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $33.47, for a total transaction of $710,132.99. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 212,204 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,102,467.88. The trade was a 9.09% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Also, COO Marianna Mancini sold 18,217 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $33.47, for a total transaction of $609,722.99. Following the sale, the chief operating officer directly owned 422,760 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $14,149,777.20. This represents a 4.13% decrease in their ownership of the stock. 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. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 187,951 shares of company stock valued at $6,268,442. 5.30% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.