Vestcor Inc Has $656,000 Holdings in Viking Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VKTX)

Vestcor Inc boosted its stake in Viking Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VKTX) by 39.3% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 16,300 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock after purchasing an additional 4,600 shares during the period. Vestcor Inc’s holdings in Viking Therapeutics were worth $656,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Swiss National Bank increased its holdings in Viking Therapeutics by 1.2% in the fourth quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 196,200 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $7,895,000 after purchasing an additional 2,400 shares during the period. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. increased its holdings in Viking Therapeutics by 137.0% in the fourth quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. now owns 375,222 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $15,099,000 after purchasing an additional 216,873 shares during the period. Wealthfront Advisers LLC acquired a new stake in Viking Therapeutics in the fourth quarter valued at $233,000. AGF Management Ltd. increased its holdings in Viking Therapeutics by 50.1% in the fourth quarter. AGF Management Ltd. now owns 164,263 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $6,610,000 after purchasing an additional 54,814 shares during the period. Finally, Independent Advisor Alliance boosted its position in Viking Therapeutics by 37.4% during the fourth quarter. Independent Advisor Alliance now owns 6,940 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $279,000 after acquiring an additional 1,890 shares during the last quarter. 76.03% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have commented on the stock. Raymond James upped their price target on shares of Viking Therapeutics from $122.00 to $125.00 and gave the company a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Maxim Group cut their price target on shares of Viking Therapeutics from $120.00 to $70.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Citigroup started coverage on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a research report on Friday, February 7th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $38.00 price target on the stock. Scotiabank started coverage on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. They set a “sector outperform” rating and a $102.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, Piper Sandler cut their price objective on shares of Viking Therapeutics from $74.00 to $71.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has assigned a hold rating, eleven have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $97.67.

Insider Transactions at Viking Therapeutics

In related news, CFO Greg Zante sold 50,309 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $42.75, for a total value of $2,150,709.75. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 165,259 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,064,822.25. This trade represents a 23.34 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Brian Lian sold 194,490 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $42.75, for a total transaction of $8,314,447.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2,366,570 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $101,170,867.50. This trade represents a 7.59 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 299,014 shares of company stock worth $12,782,849 in the last quarter. Insiders own 4.70% of the company’s stock.

Viking Therapeutics Stock Performance

NASDAQ:VKTX opened at $30.89 on Monday. The firm has a market cap of $3.47 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -30.89 and a beta of 0.90. Viking Therapeutics, Inc. has a 52 week low of $24.41 and a 52 week high of $89.10. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $32.20 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $48.64.

Viking Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VKTX) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The biotechnology company reported ($0.32) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.27) by ($0.05). During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted ($0.25) EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Viking Therapeutics, Inc. will post -1.56 earnings per share for the current 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.