Comerica Bank Sells 20,767 Shares of 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 holdings in Viking Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VKTX - Free Report) by 34.6% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 39,294 shares of the biotechnology company's stock after selling 20,767 shares during the period. Comerica Bank's holdings in Viking Therapeutics were worth $949,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of VKTX. Parallel Advisors LLC grew its position 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 acquiring an additional 536 shares during the last quarter. NBC Securities Inc. grew 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 worth $53,000 after purchasing an additional 2,221 shares during the last quarter. JNBA Financial Advisors bought a new stake in shares of Viking Therapeutics during the first quarter worth about $56,000. Future Financial Wealth Managment LLC grew its holdings in shares of Viking Therapeutics by 1,242.9% during the first quarter. Future Financial Wealth Managment LLC now owns 2,350 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $57,000 after purchasing an additional 2,175 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Signaturefd LLC grew its holdings in shares of Viking Therapeutics by 126.8% during 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 last quarter. Institutional investors own 76.03% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Citigroup boosted their price target on Viking Therapeutics from $31.00 to $38.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Thursday, July 24th. HC Wainwright restated a "buy" rating and set a $102.00 price target on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a report on Tuesday, August 19th. Finally, Raymond James Financial reduced their price target on Viking Therapeutics from $125.00 to $122.00 and set a "strong-buy" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, July 24th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have issued a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Buy" and an average target price of $87.50.

Viking Therapeutics Price Performance

Shares of Viking Therapeutics stock traded down $0.13 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $25.74. The company had a trading volume of 4,315,778 shares, compared to its average volume of 9,522,628. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $31.08 and a 200 day moving average price of $28.23. The firm has a market cap of $2.89 billion, a PE ratio of -16.82 and a beta of 0.73. Viking Therapeutics, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $18.92 and a fifty-two week high of $81.73.

Viking Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VKTX - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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 firm's quarterly revenue was up NaN% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned ($0.20) earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Viking Therapeutics, Inc. will post -1.56 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CFO Greg Zante sold 4,266 shares of Viking Therapeutics 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 transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 168,660 shares of the company's stock, valued at $4,682,001.60. The trade was a 2.47% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 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 transaction of $118,466.82. Following the sale, the chief operating officer directly owned 377,535 shares of the company's stock, 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. Insiders have sold a total of 35,421 shares of company stock valued at $984,405 over the last ninety days. 4.10% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.