Braidwell LP Sells 43,711 Shares of Viking Therapeutics, Inc. $VKTX

Key Points

• Braidwell LP reduced its stake in Viking Therapeutics by 3.0%, owning 1,435,955 shares worth approximately $34.68 million following the sale of 43,711 shares.
• In contrast, other institutional investors such as Royal Bank of Canada and Apis Capital Advisors increased their stakes by 13.0% and 16.7% respectively, indicating varying levels of confidence in the company.
• Recent insider trades include COO Marianna Mancini and CFO Greg Zante, who both sold shares valued at around $118,000, reflecting a small decrease in their ownership positions.

Braidwell LP reduced its stake in Viking Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VKTX - Free Report) by 3.0% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 1,435,955 shares of the biotechnology company's stock after selling 43,711 shares during the quarter. Braidwell LP owned about 1.28% of Viking Therapeutics worth $34,678,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. HighMark Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Viking Therapeutics by 9.4% in the first quarter. HighMark Wealth Management LLC now owns 4,660 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $113,000 after acquiring an additional 400 shares during the period. Xponance Inc. lifted its stake in 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 buying an additional 446 shares during the period. Deutsche Bank AG lifted its stake in Viking Therapeutics by 7.5% in the first quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 6,911 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $167,000 after buying an additional 484 shares during the period. Knights of Columbus Asset Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Viking Therapeutics by 2.7% in the first quarter. Knights of Columbus Asset Advisors LLC now owns 18,729 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $452,000 after buying an additional 497 shares during the period. Finally, Parallel Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Viking Therapeutics by 64.8% in the first quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 1,363 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $33,000 after buying an additional 536 shares during the period. 76.03% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

VKTX has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Citigroup boosted their price target on Viking Therapeutics from $31.00 to $38.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 24th. Raymond James Financial dropped their price target on Viking Therapeutics from $125.00 to $122.00 and set a "strong-buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, July 24th. Finally, HC Wainwright reissued a "buy" rating and issued a $102.00 price target on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a research note on Tuesday, August 19th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have assigned a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Buy" and a consensus target price of $86.92.

Viking Therapeutics Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ VKTX traded down $0.30 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $26.53. 4,209,049 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 4,785,752. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $31.24 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $28.45. Viking Therapeutics, Inc. has a one year low of $18.92 and a one year high of $81.73. The company has a market cap of $2.98 billion, a PE ratio of -17.34 and a beta of 0.73.

Viking Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VKTX - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly 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). During the same period last year, the company posted ($0.20) earnings per share. The business's revenue for the quarter was up NaN% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Viking Therapeutics, Inc. will post -1.56 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, COO Marianna Mancini sold 4,266 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Thursday, July 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $27.77, for a total transaction of $118,466.82. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer owned 377,535 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,484,146.95. This represents a 1.12% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Brian Lian sold 26,889 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Thursday, July 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $27.80, for a total value of $747,514.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 2,388,014 shares of the company's stock, valued at $66,386,789.20. This trade represents a 1.11% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 35,421 shares of company stock worth $984,405. 4.10% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Viking Therapeutics 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.