Viking Therapeutics, Inc. $VKTX Shares Sold by Invesco Ltd.

Key Points

• Invesco Ltd. reduced its stake in Viking Therapeutics by 90.3%, selling 787,865 shares and now owning only 84,981 shares valued at approximately $2,052,000 as of its latest SEC filing.
• Wall Street analysts have mixed ratings on Viking Therapeutics, with two "Strong Buy" ratings, ten "Buy," and a consensus target price of $86.92.
• Insider transactions included CEO Brian Lian selling 26,889 shares for $747,514, and CFO Greg Zante selling 4,266 shares for $118,424, reflecting decreases in their respective holdings.

Invesco Ltd. reduced its stake in Viking Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VKTX - Free Report) by 90.3% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 84,981 shares of the biotechnology company's stock after selling 787,865 shares during the quarter. Invesco Ltd. owned 0.08% of Viking Therapeutics worth $2,052,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Parallel Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Viking Therapeutics by 64.8% in the 1st quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 1,363 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $33,000 after acquiring an additional 536 shares during the last quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Viking Therapeutics by 108.5% in the 4th quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 2,068 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $83,000 after buying an additional 1,076 shares during the last quarter. NBC Securities Inc. grew its position in shares of Viking Therapeutics by 222,100.0% in the 1st quarter. NBC Securities Inc. now owns 2,222 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $53,000 after buying an additional 2,221 shares during the last quarter. JNBA Financial Advisors purchased a new position in Viking Therapeutics during the 1st quarter worth $56,000. Finally, Future Financial Wealth Managment LLC grew its position in Viking Therapeutics by 1,242.9% during the 1st 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. 76.03% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Viking Therapeutics Stock Down 1.9%

Shares of NASDAQ VKTX traded down $0.53 during midday trading on Monday, hitting $27.05. The company had a trading volume of 3,791,572 shares, compared to its average volume of 9,774,186. Viking Therapeutics, Inc. has a twelve month low of $18.92 and a twelve month high of $81.73. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $31.24 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $28.46. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.04 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -17.68 and a beta of 0.73.

Viking Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VKTX - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, July 23rd. The biotechnology company reported ($0.58) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of ($0.44) by ($0.14). The company's revenue was up NaN% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted ($0.20) EPS. On average, equities analysts forecast that Viking Therapeutics, Inc. will post -1.56 EPS for the current year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

VKTX has been the topic of several analyst reports. Raymond James Financial lowered their target price on shares of Viking Therapeutics from $125.00 to $122.00 and set a "strong-buy" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, July 24th. Citigroup lifted their target price on shares of Viking Therapeutics from $31.00 to $38.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Thursday, July 24th. Finally, HC Wainwright reaffirmed a "buy" rating and issued a $102.00 target price on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a report on Tuesday, August 19th. Two 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 stock. According to MarketBeat, Viking Therapeutics has an average rating of "Buy" and an average price target of $86.92.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Viking Therapeutics news, COO Marianna Mancini sold 4,266 shares of Viking Therapeutics stock in a transaction dated Thursday, July 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $27.77, for a total transaction of $118,466.82. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer owned 377,535 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,484,146.95. The trade was a 1.12% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CFO Greg Zante sold 4,266 shares of Viking Therapeutics stock in a transaction dated Thursday, July 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $27.76, for a total transaction of $118,424.16. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 168,660 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $4,682,001.60. The trade was a 2.47% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 35,421 shares of company stock worth $984,405. Insiders own 4.10% of the company's stock.

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.