Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. Acquires 31,011 Shares of Viking Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VKTX)

Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. raised its stake in shares of Viking Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VKTX) by 43.5% during the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 102,324 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock after purchasing an additional 31,011 shares during the quarter. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc.’s holdings in Viking Therapeutics were worth $6,478,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in VKTX. Aptus Capital Advisors LLC lifted its position in Viking Therapeutics by 34.1% during the third quarter. Aptus Capital Advisors LLC now owns 38,143 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $2,415,000 after purchasing an additional 9,699 shares during the period. Prime Capital Investment Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Viking Therapeutics in the 3rd quarter worth $235,000. Verus Capital Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of Viking Therapeutics in the third quarter worth $222,000. Platform Technology Partners bought a new stake in shares of Viking Therapeutics in the third quarter worth $289,000. Finally, GSA Capital Partners LLP increased its position in Viking Therapeutics by 64.6% during the third quarter. GSA Capital Partners LLP now owns 8,160 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $517,000 after acquiring an additional 3,202 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.03% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Viking Therapeutics

In related news, Director Sarah Kathryn Rouan sold 11,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, October 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $80.89, for a total value of $889,790.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 9,500 shares in the company, valued at approximately $768,455. The trade was a 53.66 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Brian Lian sold 112,870 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $65.80, for a total value of $7,426,846.00. Following the transaction, 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 4.57 % 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.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on the company. Oppenheimer restated an “outperform” rating and set a $138.00 price target on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a research note on Wednesday, September 25th. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $105.00 target price on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a report on Thursday, September 12th. Raymond James lifted their price target on shares of Viking Therapeutics from $116.00 to $118.00 and gave the stock a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 25th. StockNews.com upgraded Viking Therapeutics to a “sell” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 15th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. initiated coverage on Viking Therapeutics in a report on Wednesday, September 11th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $80.00 target price on the stock. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $109.80.

Viking Therapeutics Stock Performance

Shares of Viking Therapeutics stock opened at $53.57 on Friday. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $64.69 and its 200-day simple moving average is $61.60. Viking Therapeutics, Inc. has a 52 week low of $10.34 and a 52 week high of $99.41.

Viking Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VKTX) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The biotechnology company reported ($0.22) EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.24) by $0.02. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned ($0.23) earnings per share. Research analysts predict that Viking Therapeutics, Inc. will post -0.98 EPS for the current fiscal 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.