World Investment Advisors LLC Makes New $240,000 Investment in Viking Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VKTX)

World Investment Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Viking Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VKTX) in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm bought 3,794 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock, valued at approximately $240,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. FMR LLC increased its position in Viking Therapeutics by 0.5% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 16,619,430 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $1,052,176,000 after buying an additional 79,149 shares in the last quarter. Perpetual Ltd increased its holdings in shares of Viking Therapeutics by 55.4% during the third quarter. Perpetual Ltd now owns 1,269,152 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $80,350,000 after acquiring an additional 452,344 shares in the last quarter. Braidwell LP increased its holdings in shares of Viking Therapeutics by 4.5% during the third quarter. Braidwell LP now owns 1,156,977 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $73,248,000 after acquiring an additional 50,072 shares in the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC boosted its stake in Viking Therapeutics by 10,775.6% in the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 1,004,033 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $63,565,000 after purchasing an additional 994,801 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Westfield Capital Management Co. LP grew its position in Viking Therapeutics by 18.3% during the 3rd quarter. Westfield Capital Management Co. LP now owns 930,370 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $58,902,000 after purchasing an additional 143,675 shares during the last quarter. 76.03% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Viking Therapeutics Trading Up 8.4 %

VKTX opened at $41.49 on Friday. The company’s 50 day moving average is $58.05 and its 200 day moving average is $57.95. The company has a market cap of $4.62 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -44.61 and a beta of 0.88. Viking Therapeutics, Inc. has a 12-month low of $17.23 and a 12-month high of $99.41.

Viking Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VKTX) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 23rd. The biotechnology company reported ($0.22) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.24) by $0.02. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned ($0.23) EPS. As a group, analysts predict that Viking Therapeutics, Inc. will post -0.97 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Oppenheimer reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $138.00 target price on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a research note on Wednesday, September 25th. William Blair reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a research report on Wednesday, November 20th. Piper Sandler assumed coverage on Viking Therapeutics in a report on Monday, December 2nd. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $74.00 target price for the company. B. Riley initiated coverage on Viking Therapeutics in a research note on Friday, November 22nd. They issued a “buy” rating and a $109.00 price target for the company. Finally, HC Wainwright reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $102.00 price objective on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a research report on Wednesday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $106.75.

Insider Transactions at Viking Therapeutics

In other Viking Therapeutics news, Director Sarah Kathryn Rouan sold 11,000 shares of Viking Therapeutics stock in a transaction on Friday, October 25th. The shares were 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 position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Lawson Macartney sold 2,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $68.67, for a total value of $137,340.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 47,965 shares in the company, valued at $3,293,756.55. This represents a 4.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 144,687 shares of company stock valued at $11,115,671 over the last three months. Corporate insiders own 4.70% of the company’s stock.

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.