Viking Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VKTX) Shares Purchased by Bank of New York Mellon Corp

Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its stake in shares of Viking Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VKTX - Free Report) by 12.0% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 518,298 shares of the biotechnology company's stock after acquiring an additional 55,334 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp owned approximately 0.46% of Viking Therapeutics worth $12,517,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Virtu Financial LLC bought a new stake in Viking Therapeutics during the 4th quarter worth approximately $1,715,000. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. raised its stake in Viking Therapeutics by 121.5% during the 1st quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. now owns 29,721 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $718,000 after acquiring an additional 16,302 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its stake in Viking Therapeutics by 9,209.9% during the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 24,392 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $589,000 after acquiring an additional 24,130 shares during the period. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. bought a new stake in Viking Therapeutics during the 4th quarter worth approximately $429,000. Finally, LPL Financial LLC raised its stake in Viking Therapeutics by 18.2% during the 4th quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 96,702 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $3,891,000 after acquiring an additional 14,873 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 76.03% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on the stock. Citigroup increased their price objective on shares of Viking Therapeutics from $31.00 to $38.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Thursday. HC Wainwright reaffirmed a "buy" rating and set a $102.00 price objective on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a report on Wednesday, June 25th. Cantor Fitzgerald raised shares of Viking Therapeutics to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, April 29th. Truist Financial reaffirmed a "buy" rating and set a $75.00 price objective (down from $95.00) on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a report on Monday, April 28th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group assumed coverage on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a report on Tuesday, April 8th. They set a "neutral" rating and a $30.00 price objective for the company. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating, ten have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $87.15.

Insider Transactions at Viking Therapeutics

In related news, CFO Greg Zante sold 4,266 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, July 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $27.76, for a total value of $118,424.16. Following the sale, the chief financial officer owned 168,660 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $4,682,001.60. This trade represents a 2.47% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, COO Marianna Mancini sold 4,266 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, July 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $27.77, for a total value of $118,466.82. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer directly owned 377,535 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,484,146.95. This trade represents a 1.12% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 35,421 shares of company stock valued at $984,405. Corporate insiders own 4.10% of the company's stock.

Viking Therapeutics Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ VKTX traded down $0.64 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $32.76. 3,941,797 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 4,080,200. The company's 50-day moving average is $28.14 and its 200-day moving average is $28.83. Viking Therapeutics, Inc. has a 52-week low of $18.92 and a 52-week high of $81.73. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.68 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -28.49 and a beta of 0.62.

Viking Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VKTX - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, July 23rd. The biotechnology company reported ($0.58) EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of ($0.44) by ($0.14). Viking Therapeutics's revenue for the quarter was up NaN% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted ($0.20) earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts predict that Viking Therapeutics, Inc. will post -1.56 earnings per share for the current fiscal 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.