EFG Asset Management North America Corp. Sells 22,649 Shares of Viking Therapeutics, Inc. $VKTX

Key Points

• EFG Asset Management North America Corp. decreased its stake in Viking Therapeutics, Inc. by 31.6%, holding 49,124 shares valued at approximately $1.19 million as of its latest SEC filing.
• Institutional investors own 76.03% of Viking Therapeutics stock, with several firms making significant adjustments to their holdings in recent quarters.
• Viking Therapeutics reported a loss of ($0.58) EPS for the last quarter, missing consensus estimates, while analysts maintain a consensus rating of "Buy" with a target price of $86.92.

EFG Asset Management North America Corp. decreased its position in shares of Viking Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VKTX - Free Report) by 31.6% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 49,124 shares of the biotechnology company's stock after selling 22,649 shares during the period. EFG Asset Management North America Corp.'s holdings in Viking Therapeutics were worth $1,186,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of VKTX. Ameriprise Financial Inc. raised its position in shares of Viking Therapeutics by 228.5% during the 4th quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 1,479,596 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $59,540,000 after acquiring an additional 1,029,125 shares in the last quarter. Man Group plc grew its stake in shares of Viking Therapeutics by 3,373.4% in the 4th quarter. Man Group plc now owns 448,732 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $18,057,000 after purchasing an additional 435,813 shares during the last quarter. Nuveen LLC purchased a new position in shares of Viking Therapeutics in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $9,283,000. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. lifted its holdings in shares of Viking Therapeutics by 59.2% in the 1st quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. now owns 597,515 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $14,430,000 after buying an additional 222,293 shares during the period. Finally, Tang Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Viking Therapeutics by 166.7% in the 4th quarter. Tang Capital Management LLC now owns 320,000 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $12,877,000 after buying an additional 200,000 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.03% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

VKTX has been the subject of several research reports. Citigroup lifted their price objective 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 reaffirmed a "buy" rating and issued a $102.00 price objective on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a research report on Tuesday, August 19th. Finally, Raymond James Financial lowered their price target 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. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have issued a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Buy" and an average target price of $86.92.

Viking Therapeutics Trading Down 0.8%

VKTX traded down $0.20 during trading hours on Wednesday, hitting $25.07. The company's stock had a trading volume of 2,673,794 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,778,958. Viking Therapeutics, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $18.92 and a fifty-two week high of $81.73. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.82 billion, a PE ratio of -16.44 and a beta of 0.73. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $31.17 and a 200 day simple moving average of $28.27.

Viking Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VKTX - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 23rd. The biotechnology company reported ($0.58) earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.44) by ($0.14). During the same period last year, the company earned ($0.20) earnings per share. Viking Therapeutics's quarterly revenue was up NaN% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts expect that Viking Therapeutics, Inc. will post -1.56 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, COO Marianna Mancini sold 4,266 shares of Viking Therapeutics stock in a transaction dated 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 $10,484,146.95. This trade represents a 1.12% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, 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. The trade was a 1.11% decrease in their ownership of the stock. 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 three months. 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.