Principal Financial Group Inc. Sells 30,629 Shares of Viking Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VKTX)

Principal Financial Group Inc. decreased its holdings in Viking Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VKTX - Free Report) by 4.9% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 598,135 shares of the biotechnology company's stock after selling 30,629 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned approximately 0.53% of Viking Therapeutics worth $14,445,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the business. HighMark Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Viking Therapeutics by 9.4% in the 1st quarter. HighMark Wealth Management LLC now owns 4,660 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $113,000 after purchasing an additional 400 shares during the last quarter. WealthTrust Asset Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Viking Therapeutics by 6.7% in the 4th quarter. WealthTrust Asset Management LLC now owns 6,923 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $279,000 after purchasing an additional 437 shares during the last quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC increased its stake 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 valued at $33,000 after purchasing an additional 536 shares during the last quarter. Xponance Inc. increased its stake in shares of Viking Therapeutics by 4.5% in the 4th quarter. Xponance Inc. now owns 14,024 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $564,000 after purchasing an additional 610 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Principia Wealth Advisory LLC increased its stake in shares of Viking Therapeutics by 10.5% in the 1st quarter. Principia Wealth Advisory LLC now owns 6,478 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $150,000 after purchasing an additional 616 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 76.03% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on the company. Cantor Fitzgerald upgraded Viking Therapeutics to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 29th. Truist Financial restated a "buy" rating and set a $75.00 price objective (down previously from $95.00) on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a research report on Monday, April 28th. The Goldman Sachs Group assumed coverage on Viking Therapeutics in a research report on Tuesday, April 8th. They set a "neutral" rating and a $30.00 price objective on the stock. Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on Viking Therapeutics from $105.00 to $102.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 24th. Finally, HC Wainwright restated a "buy" rating and set a $102.00 price objective on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a research report on Wednesday, June 25th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating, ten have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $87.15.

Viking Therapeutics Trading Down 0.6%

Shares of VKTX opened at $31.11 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $3.49 billion, a PE ratio of -27.05 and a beta of 0.62. Viking Therapeutics, Inc. has a 12 month low of $18.92 and a 12 month high of $81.73. The stock's 50-day moving average price is $27.61 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $29.29.

Viking Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VKTX - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, April 23rd. The biotechnology company reported ($0.41) EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.31) by ($0.10). Viking Therapeutics's revenue was up .0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned ($0.26) earnings per share. Equities research analysts predict that Viking Therapeutics, Inc. will post -1.56 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other news, CFO Greg Zante sold 4,266 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated 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 position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, COO Marianna Mancini sold 4,266 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, July 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $27.77, for a total value of $118,466.82. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer directly owned 377,535 shares in the company, valued at $10,484,146.95. This represents a 1.12% decrease in their ownership of the stock. 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 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.

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