Principal Financial Group Inc. Has $14.45 Million Holdings in Viking Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VKTX)

Principal Financial Group Inc. decreased its position in Viking Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VKTX - Free Report) by 4.9% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. 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.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. FIL Ltd grew its position 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 purchasing an additional 648 shares during the last quarter. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC grew its position in 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 worth $55,000 after purchasing an additional 851 shares during the last quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC grew its position in 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 purchasing an additional 536 shares during the last quarter. Kapitalo Investimentos Ltda bought a new position in Viking Therapeutics in the 4th quarter worth about $63,000. Finally, AlphaQuest LLC grew its position in Viking Therapeutics by 79.4% in the 4th quarter. AlphaQuest LLC now owns 1,938 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $78,000 after purchasing an additional 858 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 76.03% of the company's stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CFO Greg Zante sold 4,266 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, July 3rd. The shares were 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 in the company, valued at $4,682,001.60. This represents a 2.47% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, COO Marianna Mancini sold 4,266 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, July 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $27.77, for a total transaction of $118,466.82. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer owned 377,535 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,484,146.95. This trade represents a 1.12% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 35,421 shares of company stock worth $984,405 in the last quarter. 4.10% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

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

Viking Therapeutics Trading Up 3.0%

VKTX stock traded up $0.93 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $31.63. The company had a trading volume of 2,628,439 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,059,541. 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 $3.55 billion, a P/E ratio of -27.50 and a beta of 0.62. The company has a 50 day moving average of $27.73 and a two-hundred day moving average of $29.14.

Viking Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VKTX - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, April 23rd. The biotechnology company reported ($0.41) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of ($0.31) by ($0.10). During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted ($0.26) EPS. The company's revenue was up .0% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Viking Therapeutics, Inc. will post -1.56 earnings per share for the current year.

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.