Aptus Capital Advisors LLC Buys 9,699 Shares of Viking Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VKTX)

Aptus Capital Advisors LLC raised its stake in Viking Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VKTX) by 34.1% in the third quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 38,143 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock after purchasing an additional 9,699 shares during the quarter. Aptus Capital Advisors LLC’s holdings in Viking Therapeutics were worth $2,415,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

VKTX has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $105.00 target price on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a research report on Thursday, September 12th. Oppenheimer reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $138.00 target price on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a report on Wednesday, September 25th. StockNews.com raised Viking Therapeutics to a “sell” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 15th. Raymond James lifted their price target on Viking Therapeutics from $116.00 to $118.00 and gave the company a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 25th. Finally, HC Wainwright lifted their price target on Viking Therapeutics from $90.00 to $102.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, November 4th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Viking Therapeutics presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $109.80.

Insider Transactions at Viking Therapeutics

In related news, Director Sarah Kathryn Rouan sold 11,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, October 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $80.89, for a total transaction of $889,790.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 9,500 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $768,455. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. In other news, Director Sarah Kathryn Rouan sold 11,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, October 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $80.89, for a total value of $889,790.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 9,500 shares in the company, valued at approximately $768,455. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO Brian Lian sold 112,870 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $65.80, for a total transaction of $7,426,846.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2,354,927 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $154,954,196.60. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 506,687 shares of company stock valued at $36,029,679. 4.70% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Viking Therapeutics Price Performance

NASDAQ VKTX opened at $55.06 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $6.14 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -59.20 and a beta of 1.00. Viking Therapeutics, Inc. has a 1-year low of $10.34 and a 1-year high of $99.41. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $64.72 and its 200-day moving average price is $61.66.

Viking Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VKTX) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 23rd. The biotechnology company reported ($0.22) EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.24) by $0.02. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted ($0.23) earnings per share. Equities research analysts anticipate that Viking Therapeutics, Inc. will post -0.98 EPS for the current year.

About Viking Therapeutics

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.