Strs Ohio Takes Position in Viking Therapeutics, Inc. $VKTX

Strs Ohio bought a new stake in Viking Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VKTX - Free Report) during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund bought 25,000 shares of the biotechnology company's stock, valued at approximately $604,000.

A number of other large investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. HighMark Wealth Management LLC increased its position in shares of Viking Therapeutics by 9.4% during the first quarter. HighMark Wealth Management LLC now owns 4,660 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $113,000 after acquiring an additional 400 shares during the period. Xponance Inc. lifted its position in Viking Therapeutics by 3.2% in the first quarter. Xponance Inc. now owns 14,470 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $349,000 after purchasing an additional 446 shares during the period. Deutsche Bank AG lifted its position in Viking Therapeutics by 7.5% in the first quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 6,911 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $167,000 after purchasing an additional 484 shares during the period. Knights of Columbus Asset Advisors LLC lifted its position in Viking Therapeutics by 2.7% in the first quarter. Knights of Columbus Asset Advisors LLC now owns 18,729 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $452,000 after purchasing an additional 497 shares during the period. Finally, Parallel Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Viking Therapeutics by 64.8% in the first quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 1,363 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $33,000 after buying an additional 536 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.03% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have commented on VKTX. Raymond James Financial lowered their target price on shares of Viking Therapeutics from $125.00 to $122.00 and set a "strong-buy" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, July 24th. Citigroup boosted 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. Finally, HC Wainwright restated a "buy" rating and issued a $102.00 target price on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a research report on Tuesday, August 19th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have assigned a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Buy" and a consensus price target of $87.50.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, COO Marianna Mancini sold 4,266 shares of the 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 owned 377,535 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $10,484,146.95. This represents a 1.12% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CFO Greg Zante sold 4,266 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer 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. Insiders have sold 35,421 shares of company stock worth $984,405 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 4.10% of the company's stock.

Viking Therapeutics Stock Down 2.5%

Viking Therapeutics stock opened at $25.40 on Friday. Viking Therapeutics, Inc. has a twelve month low of $18.92 and a twelve month high of $81.73. The company has a 50 day moving average of $30.45 and a 200-day moving average of $28.09. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.86 billion, a PE ratio of -16.60 and a beta of 0.73.

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

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.

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