Viking Therapeutics, Inc. $VKTX Shares Acquired by Hsbc Holdings PLC

Hsbc Holdings PLC boosted its position in shares of Viking Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VKTX - Free Report) by 205.6% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 17,875 shares of the biotechnology company's stock after acquiring an additional 12,026 shares during the period. Hsbc Holdings PLC's holdings in Viking Therapeutics were worth $430,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in VKTX. Ameriprise Financial Inc. raised its stake in 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 during the period. Man Group plc raised its position in shares of Viking Therapeutics by 3,373.4% during the fourth quarter. Man Group plc now owns 448,732 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $18,057,000 after buying an additional 435,813 shares during the last quarter. Nuveen LLC bought a new stake in shares of Viking Therapeutics during the first quarter valued at approximately $9,283,000. Braidwell LP raised its position in shares of Viking Therapeutics by 27.9% during the fourth quarter. Braidwell LP now owns 1,479,666 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $59,542,000 after buying an additional 322,689 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. raised its position in shares of Viking Therapeutics by 59.2% during the first 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 last quarter. Institutional investors own 76.03% of the company's stock.

Insider Transactions at Viking Therapeutics

In other news, COO Marianna Mancini sold 4,266 shares of the firm'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 transaction of $118,466.82. Following the sale, the chief operating officer owned 377,535 shares of the company's stock, valued at $10,484,146.95. This trade represents a 1.12% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Brian Lian sold 26,889 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, July 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $27.80, for a total transaction 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 position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 35,421 shares of company stock valued at $984,405 in the last 90 days. 4.10% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Citigroup lifted their price objective on shares of 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 price objective on shares of 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. Finally, HC Wainwright restated a "buy" rating and issued a $102.00 price target on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a research report on Tuesday, August 19th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have issued a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Buy" and a consensus target price of $86.92.

Viking Therapeutics Stock Up 1.7%

Shares of VKTX traded up $0.45 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $26.98. 5,240,439 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 9,570,530. Viking Therapeutics, Inc. has a 1-year low of $18.92 and a 1-year high of $81.73. The company has a market capitalization of $3.03 billion, a PE ratio of -17.63 and a beta of 0.73. The business has a 50 day moving average of $31.22 and a 200 day moving average of $28.40.

Viking Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VKTX - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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 quarter in the previous year, the business posted ($0.20) EPS. The business's revenue for the quarter was up NaN% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts expect that Viking Therapeutics, Inc. will post -1.56 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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.