Strs Ohio Invests $604,000 in Viking Therapeutics, Inc. $VKTX

Key Points

• Strs Ohio has acquired a new stake in Viking Therapeutics, purchasing 25,000 shares valued at approximately $604,000. This is part of a broader trend with institutional investors increasing their positions in the company during Q1.
• Viking Therapeutics has received mixed ratings from analysts, with two giving a Strong Buy rating and an average consensus price target of $87.50.
• Despite strong institutional interest, Viking Therapeutics' stock experienced a 2.5% decline recently, opening at $25.40 after missing earnings estimates for the last quarter.

Strs Ohio bought a new position in Viking Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VKTX - Free Report) during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm bought 25,000 shares of the biotechnology company's stock, valued at approximately $604,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in VKTX. HighMark Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Viking Therapeutics by 9.4% during the 1st 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 last quarter. Xponance Inc. raised its position in shares of Viking Therapeutics by 3.2% during the 1st 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 raised its position in shares of Viking Therapeutics by 7.5% during the 1st 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 raised its position in shares of Viking Therapeutics by 2.7% during the 1st 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 raised its position in shares of Viking Therapeutics by 64.8% during 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 period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.03% of the company's stock.

Insider Transactions at Viking Therapeutics

In other news, CEO Brian Lian sold 26,889 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, July 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $27.80, for a total value of $747,514.20. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 2,388,014 shares in the company, valued at $66,386,789.20. The trade was a 1.11% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, COO Marianna Mancini 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 $27.77, for a total transaction of $118,466.82. Following the completion of the sale, 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 ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 35,421 shares of company stock worth $984,405 in the last three months. Insiders own 4.10% of the company's stock.

Viking Therapeutics Stock Down 2.7%

NASDAQ VKTX traded down $0.70 on Tuesday, reaching $25.55. The company had a trading volume of 2,112,331 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,836,748. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.87 billion, a PE ratio of -16.70 and a beta of 0.73. The firm's 50 day moving average price is $30.35 and its 200 day moving average price is $28.07. Viking Therapeutics, Inc. has a 12 month low of $18.92 and a 12 month high of $81.73.

Viking Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VKTX - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results 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 period in the previous year, the company posted ($0.20) EPS. Viking Therapeutics's revenue for the quarter was up NaN% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts expect that Viking Therapeutics, Inc. will post -1.56 EPS for the current year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

VKTX has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. BTIG Research restated a "buy" rating and set a $125.00 price objective on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a research report on Monday. Citigroup raised 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. HC Wainwright restated a "buy" rating and set a $102.00 price objective on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a research report on Tuesday, August 19th. Finally, Raymond James Financial decreased their price objective on shares of Viking Therapeutics from $125.00 to $122.00 and set a "strong-buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, July 24th. Two 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, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and a consensus target price of $90.38.

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.