Midwest Trust Co Takes $1.44 Million Position in Viking Therapeutics, Inc. $VKTX

Midwest Trust Co purchased a new stake in Viking Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VKTX) during the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm purchased 54,217 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,437,000.

Other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Glass Jacobson Investment Advisors llc bought a new stake in Viking Therapeutics in the second quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Quarry LP increased its position in shares of Viking Therapeutics by 1,621.4% in the 1st quarter. Quarry LP now owns 1,205 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $29,000 after buying an additional 1,135 shares in the last quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC raised its stake in Viking Therapeutics by 33.4% during the 2nd quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 1,818 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $48,000 after buying an additional 455 shares during the period. Farther Finance Advisors LLC raised its stake in Viking Therapeutics by 571.4% during the 2nd quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 2,041 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $54,000 after buying an additional 1,737 shares during the period. Finally, Flaharty Asset Management LLC bought a new position in Viking Therapeutics during the first quarter worth about $56,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.03% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

VKTX has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Cantor Fitzgerald set a $105.00 price target on Viking Therapeutics in a report on Thursday, October 23rd. Citigroup increased their target price on Viking Therapeutics from $31.00 to $38.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 24th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price target on shares of Viking Therapeutics from $80.00 to $75.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, October 24th. B. Riley raised shares of Viking Therapeutics to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 23rd. Finally, BTIG Research restated a “buy” rating and set a $125.00 price objective on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a report on Monday, September 22nd. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have given a Buy rating, two have given a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $87.07.

Insider Buying and Selling at Viking Therapeutics

In related news, CFO Greg Zante sold 6,185 shares of Viking Therapeutics stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, October 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $35.00, for a total value of $216,475.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer owned 173,592 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,075,720. The trade was a 3.44% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Charles A. Rowland, Jr. sold 60,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, October 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $35.57, for a total value 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 trade represents a 66.67% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold a total of 111,359 shares of company stock valued at $3,932,155 over the last quarter. 4.10% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Viking Therapeutics Stock Up 2.7%

NASDAQ:VKTX opened at $37.77 on Tuesday. The company has a market cap of $4.27 billion, a P/E ratio of -17.82 and a beta of 0.64. Viking Therapeutics, Inc. has a twelve month low of $18.92 and a twelve month high of $68.87. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $30.51 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $29.84.

Viking Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VKTX) last posted 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 quarter in the prior year, the business posted ($0.22) EPS. As a group, analysts anticipate that Viking Therapeutics, Inc. will post -1.56 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.