Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA Buys 11,668 Shares of Viking Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VKTX)

Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA grew its position in Viking Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VKTX) by 4.9% in the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 248,269 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock after acquiring an additional 11,668 shares during the period. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA owned 0.22% of Viking Therapeutics worth $15,718,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of VKTX. Blue Trust Inc. bought a new position in Viking Therapeutics in the third quarter valued at about $26,000. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its holdings in Viking Therapeutics by 124.6% in the 3rd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 438 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $28,000 after buying an additional 243 shares during the last quarter. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. acquired a new stake in Viking Therapeutics during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $27,000. Gilliland Jeter Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in Viking Therapeutics during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $32,000. Finally, Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV increased its position in Viking Therapeutics by 84.3% in the 3rd quarter. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV now owns 553 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $35,000 after acquiring an additional 253 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.03% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Brian Lian sold 216,130 shares of Viking Therapeutics stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $70.83, for a total transaction of $15,308,487.90. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2,304,927 shares in the company, valued at $163,257,979.41. This trade represents a 8.57 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director J Matthew Singleton sold 10,300 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $69.50, for a total transaction of $715,850.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 9,500 shares in the company, valued at $660,250. This represents a 52.02 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 371,117 shares of company stock worth $27,140,009 over the last quarter. 4.70% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

VKTX has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. assumed coverage on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a report on Wednesday, September 11th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $80.00 price target on the stock. Oppenheimer reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $138.00 price target on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a research report on Wednesday, September 25th. StockNews.com raised Viking Therapeutics to a “sell” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 15th. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $105.00 price objective on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a research note on Thursday, September 12th. Finally, William Blair restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a report on Wednesday, November 20th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Viking Therapeutics currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $109.73.

Viking Therapeutics Trading Down 1.1 %

NASDAQ:VKTX opened at $51.99 on Tuesday. Viking Therapeutics, Inc. has a 12 month low of $11.55 and a 12 month high of $99.41. The stock has a market capitalization of $5.79 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -55.90 and a beta of 1.00. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $63.43 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $60.05.

Viking Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VKTX) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The biotechnology company reported ($0.22) EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.24) by $0.02. During the same period last year, the company earned ($0.23) earnings per share. Equities analysts predict that Viking Therapeutics, Inc. will post -0.98 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Viking Therapeutics 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.