Alliancebernstein L.P. Decreases Position in Viking Therapeutics, Inc. $VKTX

Key Points

• Alliancebernstein L.P. has decreased its position in Viking Therapeutics, Inc. by 6.8%, now holding approximately 1,039,417 shares valued at $25.1 million.
• Despite the decrease in Alliancebernstein's stake, other hedge funds have shown strong interest, with Quarry LP increasing its stake by 1,621.4% and NBC Securities Inc. by 222,100.0% in the same quarter.
• Viking Therapeutics reported a loss of $0.58 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' expectations, with projections indicating a continued loss for the current year.

Alliancebernstein L.P. decreased its holdings in Viking Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VKTX - Free Report) by 6.8% in the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 1,039,417 shares of the biotechnology company's stock after selling 75,651 shares during the quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. owned about 0.93% of Viking Therapeutics worth $25,102,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Quarry LP raised its stake in Viking Therapeutics by 1,621.4% in the first 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 during the last quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Viking Therapeutics by 64.8% during the first quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 1,363 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $33,000 after acquiring an additional 536 shares during the last quarter. NBC Securities Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Viking Therapeutics by 222,100.0% during the first quarter. NBC Securities Inc. now owns 2,222 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $53,000 after acquiring an additional 2,221 shares in the last quarter. JNBA Financial Advisors purchased a new position in shares of Viking Therapeutics in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $56,000. Finally, Future Financial Wealth Managment LLC raised its position in shares of Viking Therapeutics by 1,242.9% in the 1st quarter. Future Financial Wealth Managment LLC now owns 2,350 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $57,000 after purchasing an additional 2,175 shares during the last quarter. 76.03% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Viking Therapeutics Trading Down 0.8%

Shares of NASDAQ VKTX opened at $25.27 on Wednesday. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $31.17 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $28.27. The stock has a market cap of $2.84 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -16.52 and a beta of 0.73. Viking Therapeutics, Inc. has a 12 month low of $18.92 and a 12 month high of $81.73.

Viking Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VKTX - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, July 23rd. The biotechnology company reported ($0.58) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.44) by ($0.14). The business's revenue for the quarter was up NaN% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned ($0.20) EPS. Analysts forecast that Viking Therapeutics, Inc. will post -1.56 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Viking Therapeutics

In other Viking Therapeutics news, CFO Greg Zante sold 4,266 shares of Viking Therapeutics stock in a transaction dated Thursday, July 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $27.76, for a total transaction of $118,424.16. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 168,660 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,682,001.60. This trade represents a 2.47% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Brian Lian sold 26,889 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, July 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $27.80, for a total value of $747,514.20. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 2,388,014 shares in the company, valued at $66,386,789.20. The trade was a 1.11% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 35,421 shares of company stock worth $984,405. Insiders own 4.10% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have weighed in on VKTX. HC Wainwright reissued a "buy" rating and set a $102.00 target price on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a research report on Tuesday, August 19th. Raymond James Financial dropped their price objective on shares of Viking Therapeutics from $125.00 to $122.00 and set a "strong-buy" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, July 24th. Finally, Citigroup raised 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. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have issued a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Buy" and a consensus target price of $86.92.

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.

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