NJ State Employees Deferred Compensation Plan Has $1.16 Million Stock Position in Viking Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VKTX)

Key Points

• The NJ State Employees Deferred Compensation Plan increased its holdings in Viking Therapeutics by 26.3%, acquiring 10,000 shares, bringing its total to 48,000 shares valued at approximately $1,159,000.
• Several institutional investors, including Cambridge Investment Research and GAMMA Investing, have notably boosted their stakes in Viking Therapeutics, indicating strong institutional interest in the company.
• Viking Therapeutics recently reported a quarterly EPS of ($0.58), missing analyst estimates, and has a current market cap of $3.67 billion.

NJ State Employees Deferred Compensation Plan boosted its holdings in shares of Viking Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VKTX - Free Report) by 26.3% during the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 48,000 shares of the biotechnology company's stock after acquiring an additional 10,000 shares during the quarter. NJ State Employees Deferred Compensation Plan's holdings in Viking Therapeutics were worth $1,159,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in VKTX. Parallel Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Viking Therapeutics by 64.8% during the first 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 last quarter. FIL Ltd grew its stake in Viking Therapeutics by 116.8% in the 4th quarter. FIL Ltd now owns 1,203 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $48,000 after buying an additional 648 shares in the last quarter. NBC Securities Inc. grew its stake in Viking Therapeutics by 222,100.0% in the 1st quarter. NBC Securities Inc. now owns 2,222 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $53,000 after buying an additional 2,221 shares in the last quarter. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC boosted its stake in shares of Viking Therapeutics by 170.2% in the 4th quarter. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC now owns 1,351 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $55,000 after purchasing an additional 851 shares in the last quarter. Finally, JNBA Financial Advisors purchased a new stake in shares of Viking Therapeutics in the 1st quarter valued at $56,000. 76.03% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Viking Therapeutics

In other news, CEO Brian Lian sold 26,889 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction 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 completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 2,388,014 shares of the company's stock, valued at $66,386,789.20. This trade represents a 1.11% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CFO Greg Zante sold 4,266 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction 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 completion of the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 168,660 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $4,682,001.60. This trade represents a 2.47% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 35,421 shares of company stock worth $984,405. 4.10% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Viking Therapeutics Price Performance

VKTX traded up $0.17 during trading on Tuesday, reaching $34.15. 735,232 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 4,069,902. Viking Therapeutics, Inc. has a 1 year low of $18.92 and a 1 year high of $81.73. The business's 50 day moving average price is $29.20 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $28.50. The company has a market capitalization of $3.84 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -22.16 and a beta of 0.67.

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on the stock. Cantor Fitzgerald upgraded shares of Viking Therapeutics to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, April 29th. Citigroup increased 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. Morgan Stanley dropped their price target on shares of Viking Therapeutics from $105.00 to $102.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 24th. Raymond James Financial dropped their price target 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. Finally, Truist Financial reissued a "buy" rating and issued a $75.00 price objective (down previously from $95.00) on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a report on Monday, April 28th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating, ten have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $86.92.

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.