Blair William & Co. IL Boosts Stake in Viking Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VKTX)

Key Points

• Blair William & Co. IL increased its stake in Viking Therapeutics by 13.5%, owning 308,565 shares valued at $7.45 million as of the latest SEC filing.
• Viking Therapeutics reported a quarterly EPS of ($0.58), missing the expected ($0.44) by 14 cents, with analysts forecasting a yearly EPS of -1.56.
• Wall Street analysts have varying views on Viking Therapeutics, with ratings ranging from sell to strong buy, and an average target price of $86.92.

Blair William & Co. IL grew its stake in Viking Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VKTX - Free Report) by 13.5% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 308,565 shares of the biotechnology company's stock after buying an additional 36,696 shares during the period. Blair William & Co. IL owned 0.27% of Viking Therapeutics worth $7,452,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. HighMark Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in Viking Therapeutics by 9.4% during the first quarter. HighMark Wealth Management LLC now owns 4,660 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $113,000 after purchasing an additional 400 shares during the period. Xponance Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Viking Therapeutics by 3.2% in the first quarter. Xponance Inc. now owns 14,470 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $349,000 after purchasing an additional 446 shares in the last quarter. Knights of Columbus Asset Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Viking Therapeutics by 2.7% during the first quarter. Knights of Columbus Asset Advisors LLC now owns 18,729 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $452,000 after acquiring an additional 497 shares during the period. Parallel Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in 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 period. Finally, Principia Wealth Advisory LLC lifted its holdings in Viking Therapeutics by 10.5% during the first quarter. Principia Wealth Advisory LLC now owns 6,478 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $150,000 after acquiring an additional 616 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.03% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have issued reports on the company. Morgan Stanley lowered their target price on Viking Therapeutics from $105.00 to $102.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 24th. Cantor Fitzgerald upgraded Viking Therapeutics to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 29th. Citigroup lifted their price target on Viking Therapeutics from $31.00 to $38.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 24th. Raymond James Financial reduced their target price on Viking Therapeutics from $125.00 to $122.00 and set a "strong-buy" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, July 24th. Finally, HC Wainwright restated a "buy" rating and set a $102.00 target price on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a research report on Wednesday, June 25th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating, ten have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $86.92.

Viking Therapeutics Stock Up 6.6%

Shares of NASDAQ VKTX traded up $2.33 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $37.89. The company had a trading volume of 6,988,255 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,962,152. Viking Therapeutics, Inc. has a one year low of $18.92 and a one year high of $81.73. The firm's fifty day moving average price is $29.80 and its 200-day moving average price is $28.61. The stock has a market cap of $4.26 billion, a PE ratio of -24.76 and a beta of 0.67.

Viking Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VKTX - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly 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). The business's revenue was up NaN% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned ($0.20) earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts expect 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 the company'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 transaction of $118,424.16. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 168,660 shares of the company's stock, valued at $4,682,001.60. This represents a 2.47% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, COO Marianna Mancini sold 4,266 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, July 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $27.77, for a total value of $118,466.82. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer directly owned 377,535 shares of the company's stock, valued at $10,484,146.95. The trade was a 1.12% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 35,421 shares of company stock valued at $984,405 in the last 90 days. Insiders own 4.10% 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.