Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. Has $10.03 Million Stock Holdings in Viking Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VKTX)

Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. boosted its stake in shares of Viking Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VKTX) by 218.2% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 158,349 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock after buying an additional 108,581 shares during the period. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd.’s holdings in Viking Therapeutics were worth $10,025,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of VKTX. Oak Ridge Investments LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Viking Therapeutics during the third quarter worth $837,000. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. raised its stake in shares of Viking Therapeutics by 43.5% in the 3rd quarter. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. now owns 102,324 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $6,478,000 after purchasing an additional 31,011 shares during the period. Nvwm LLC bought a new stake in shares of Viking Therapeutics in the third quarter valued at about $999,000. Chartwell Investment Partners LLC boosted its position in shares of Viking Therapeutics by 88.0% during the third quarter. Chartwell Investment Partners LLC now owns 36,666 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $2,322,000 after buying an additional 17,159 shares during the period. Finally, Aptus Capital Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Viking Therapeutics by 34.1% during the third quarter. Aptus Capital Advisors LLC now owns 38,143 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $2,415,000 after buying an additional 9,699 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 76.03% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

VKTX has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. initiated coverage on Viking Therapeutics in a research report on Wednesday, September 11th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $80.00 price target for the company. StockNews.com raised shares of Viking Therapeutics to a “sell” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 15th. William Blair reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a research report on Wednesday. Morgan Stanley restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $105.00 price objective on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a report on Thursday, September 12th. Finally, Raymond James upped their target price on Viking Therapeutics from $116.00 to $118.00 and gave the stock a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, July 25th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $109.80.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Brian Lian sold 216,130 shares of Viking Therapeutics stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, September 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $70.83, for a total transaction of $15,308,487.90. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2,304,927 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $163,257,979.41. This trade represents a 8.57 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director J Matthew Singleton sold 10,300 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, September 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $69.50, for a total value of $715,850.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 9,500 shares in the company, valued at approximately $660,250. This represents a 52.02 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 371,117 shares of company stock valued at $27,140,009. Company insiders own 4.70% of the company’s stock.

Viking Therapeutics Stock Up 0.4 %

VKTX opened at $51.75 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $5.77 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -55.64 and a beta of 1.00. Viking Therapeutics, Inc. has a 12-month low of $11.21 and a 12-month high of $99.41. The business has a 50 day moving average of $64.01 and a 200-day moving average of $60.70.

Viking Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VKTX) last released its quarterly earnings data 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 quarter in the prior year, the firm earned ($0.23) EPS. As a group, analysts expect that Viking Therapeutics, Inc. will post -0.98 earnings per share for the current year.

Viking Therapeutics Company 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.