Man Group plc Acquires Shares of 312,171 Viking Therapeutics, Inc. $VKTX

Man Group plc acquired a new position in shares of Viking Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VKTX) during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund acquired 312,171 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock, valued at approximately $12,178,000. Man Group plc owned about 0.27% of Viking Therapeutics as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. BlackRock Inc. acquired a new stake in Viking Therapeutics in the second quarter valued at $241,458,000. Ameriprise Financial Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Viking Therapeutics by 41.8% in the 3rd quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 2,092,840 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $55,000,000 after acquiring an additional 616,526 shares during the last quarter. Two Sigma Investments LP increased its holdings in shares of Viking Therapeutics by 58.7% in the 3rd quarter. Two Sigma Investments LP now owns 2,085,487 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $54,807,000 after acquiring an additional 771,704 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of Viking Therapeutics by 24.0% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,994,509 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $70,183,000 after acquiring an additional 385,903 shares in the last quarter. Finally, BNP Paribas Financial Markets lifted its stake in Viking Therapeutics by 536.3% during the fourth quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 992,695 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $34,923,000 after purchasing an additional 836,686 shares during the last quarter. 76.03% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Viking Therapeutics

In other news, CFO Greg Zante sold 21,217 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $33.47, for a total transaction of $710,132.99. Following the transaction, 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 ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Also, CEO Brian Lian sold 148,517 shares of Viking Therapeutics stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $33.32, for a total transaction of $4,948,586.44. Following the sale, 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 ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. 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 quarter. Corporate insiders own 5.30% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

VKTX has been the topic of a number of research reports. Truist Financial assumed coverage on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a report on Wednesday, May 27th. They set a “buy” rating and a $83.00 target price on the stock. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a research report on Friday, July 17th. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Viking Therapeutics from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 18th. Cantor Fitzgerald cut their target price on shares of Viking Therapeutics from $105.00 to $100.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 30th. Finally, Morgan Stanley set a $95.00 target price on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a report on Thursday, April 30th. One research 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 stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $96.62.

Viking Therapeutics Stock Down 1.5%

Viking Therapeutics stock opened at $33.86 on Friday. Viking Therapeutics, Inc. has a 52-week low of $22.96 and a 52-week high of $43.15. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.95 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -7.27 and a beta of 0.69. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $35.60 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $33.31.

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

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.