Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC Grows Stock Position in Viking Therapeutics, Inc. $VKTX

Key Points

• Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC increased its holdings in Viking Therapeutics by 6.1%, acquiring an additional 13,626 shares, bringing its total ownership to approximately 238,035 shares worth $5.75 million.
• Viking Therapeutics recently reported a quarterly earnings loss of ($0.58) per share, which fell short of analysts' expectations of ($0.44), while the company's stock has seen a 5.1% increase recently.
• Insider selling has occurred with CEO Brian Lian and CFO Greg Zante offloading portions of their respective holdings, contributing to a total of 35,421 shares sold valued at approximately $984,405 over the last 90 days.

Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC lifted its stake in shares of Viking Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VKTX - Free Report) by 6.1% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 238,035 shares of the biotechnology company's stock after buying an additional 13,626 shares during the quarter. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC owned approximately 0.21% of Viking Therapeutics worth $5,749,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Raymond James Financial Inc. grew its position in shares of Viking Therapeutics by 4.7% during the first quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. now owns 647,391 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $15,634,000 after buying an additional 28,922 shares in the last quarter. Tejara Capital Ltd acquired a new position in shares of Viking Therapeutics during the first quarter worth about $916,000. Fox Run Management L.L.C. acquired a new position in shares of Viking Therapeutics during the first quarter worth about $807,000. Oak Ridge Investments LLC grew its position in shares of Viking Therapeutics by 17.5% during the first quarter. Oak Ridge Investments LLC now owns 12,950 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $313,000 after buying an additional 1,928 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Nuveen LLC acquired a new position in shares of Viking Therapeutics during the first quarter worth about $9,283,000. 76.03% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling at Viking Therapeutics

In other Viking Therapeutics news, CFO Greg Zante sold 4,266 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred 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 owned 168,660 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,682,001.60. The trade was a 2.47% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, COO Marianna Mancini sold 4,266 shares of the business'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 value of $118,466.82. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer owned 377,535 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $10,484,146.95. This represents a 1.12% 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. 4.10% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Viking Therapeutics Stock Performance

NASDAQ VKTX traded up $0.34 on Friday, reaching $26.00. The stock had a trading volume of 10,551,665 shares, compared to its average volume of 9,028,326. Viking Therapeutics, Inc. has a 12-month low of $18.92 and a 12-month high of $81.73. The business's 50-day moving average price is $31.17 and its 200 day moving average price is $28.62. The stock has a market cap of $2.92 billion, a P/E ratio of -16.99 and a beta of 0.67.

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on VKTX shares. Raymond James Financial lowered their price target on Viking Therapeutics from $125.00 to $122.00 and set a "strong-buy" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, July 24th. Truist Financial reaffirmed a "buy" rating and issued a $75.00 price target (down from $95.00) on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a report on Monday, April 28th. Cantor Fitzgerald raised Viking Therapeutics to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, April 29th. Citigroup upped their price target on 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 price target on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a report on Tuesday, August 19th. Two investment 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 data from MarketBeat.com, Viking Therapeutics currently has an average rating of "Buy" and an average price target of $86.92.

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.