Envestnet Asset Management Inc. Purchases 25,120 Shares of Viking Therapeutics, Inc. $VKTX

Envestnet Asset Management Inc. raised its position in shares of Viking Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VKTX) by 52.2% in the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 73,259 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock after acquiring an additional 25,120 shares during the period. Envestnet Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in Viking Therapeutics were worth $1,941,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Wealthfront Advisers LLC raised its holdings in shares of Viking Therapeutics by 14.7% during the 2nd quarter. Wealthfront Advisers LLC now owns 10,048 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $266,000 after buying an additional 1,289 shares in the last quarter. State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D boosted its stake in Viking Therapeutics by 2.5% in the second quarter. State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D now owns 67,921 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $1,800,000 after buying an additional 1,671 shares in the last quarter. Glass Jacobson Investment Advisors llc bought a new position in Viking Therapeutics in the second quarter valued at about $28,000. MN Wealth Advisors LLC raised its stake in Viking Therapeutics by 23.6% during the second quarter. MN Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 23,024 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $610,000 after acquiring an additional 4,396 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd lifted its holdings in shares of Viking Therapeutics by 3,004.5% in the second quarter. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd now owns 4,098 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $109,000 after acquiring an additional 3,966 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.03% of the company’s stock.

Viking Therapeutics Trading Down 1.2%

NASDAQ VKTX opened at $37.76 on Wednesday. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $32.05 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $30.33. Viking Therapeutics, Inc. has a 12 month low of $18.92 and a 12 month high of $56.25. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.27 billion, a PE ratio of -17.81 and a beta of 0.64.

Viking Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VKTX) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 22nd. The biotechnology company reported ($0.81) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.67) by ($0.14). The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up .0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted ($0.22) earnings per share. As a group, analysts forecast that Viking Therapeutics, Inc. will post -1.56 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages recently issued reports on VKTX. Canaccord Genuity Group lifted their price target on shares of Viking Therapeutics from $106.00 to $107.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 12th. HC Wainwright reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $102.00 target price on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a research note on Monday, September 29th. Zacks Research cut Viking Therapeutics from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 21st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price objective on Viking Therapeutics from $80.00 to $75.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, October 24th. Finally, Citigroup boosted their price objective on Viking Therapeutics from $31.00 to $38.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 24th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have issued a Buy rating, two have given a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $87.14.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Brian Lian sold 38,989 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, October 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $35.01, for a total value of $1,365,004.89. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 2,419,109 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $84,693,006.09. This represents a 1.59% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Charles A. Rowland, Jr. sold 60,000 shares of Viking Therapeutics stock in a transaction 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 transaction, 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. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 111,359 shares of company stock worth $3,932,155. 4.10% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.