Comerica Bank Has $949,000 Holdings in Viking Therapeutics, Inc. $VKTX

Key Points

• Comerica Bank reduced its stake in Viking Therapeutics by 34.6%, holding just under $949,000 worth of shares after selling 20,767 shares during the first quarter.
• Multiple institutional investors, including Parallel Advisors LLC and NBC Securities Inc., significantly increased their holdings in Viking Therapeutics, showcasing strong interest in the stock.
• Viking Therapeutics reported a quarterly loss of ($0.58) EPS, missing analysts' estimates, and the stock currently has an average rating of "Buy" with a consensus price target of $86.92.

Comerica Bank lessened its stake in Viking Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VKTX - Free Report) by 34.6% in the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 39,294 shares of the biotechnology company's stock after selling 20,767 shares during the quarter. Comerica Bank's holdings in Viking Therapeutics were worth $949,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Parallel Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Viking Therapeutics by 64.8% during the 1st quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 1,363 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $33,000 after buying an additional 536 shares during the period. NBC Securities Inc. grew its holdings in 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 purchasing an additional 2,221 shares during the period. JNBA Financial Advisors acquired a new position in Viking Therapeutics during the first quarter valued at approximately $56,000. Future Financial Wealth Managment LLC increased its stake in Viking Therapeutics by 1,242.9% in the first 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 in the last quarter. Finally, Signaturefd LLC raised its holdings in Viking Therapeutics by 126.8% in the first quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 2,830 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $68,000 after purchasing an additional 1,582 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 76.03% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on VKTX shares. HC Wainwright reissued a "buy" rating and issued a $102.00 price target on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a report on Tuesday, August 19th. Citigroup boosted their target price on Viking Therapeutics from $31.00 to $38.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 24th. Finally, 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 report on Thursday, July 24th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have assigned a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Buy" and a consensus target price of $86.92.

Insider Transactions at Viking Therapeutics

In other news, CEO Brian Lian sold 26,889 shares of Viking Therapeutics stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 2,388,014 shares in the company, valued at $66,386,789.20. This trade represents a 1.11% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CFO Greg Zante sold 4,266 shares of the business's stock in a transaction 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 sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 168,660 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,682,001.60. This represents a 2.47% 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 ninety days. 4.10% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Viking Therapeutics Trading Up 1.7%

VKTX stock opened at $26.98 on Friday. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $31.22 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $28.40. Viking Therapeutics, Inc. has a 1 year low of $18.92 and a 1 year high of $81.73. The stock has a market cap of $3.03 billion, a PE ratio of -17.63 and a beta of 0.73.

Viking Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VKTX - Get Free Report) last issued 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). During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted ($0.20) earnings per share. Viking Therapeutics's revenue for the quarter was up NaN% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts forecast that Viking Therapeutics, Inc. will post -1.56 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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.

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