TCW Group Inc. Has $1.81 Million Stake in Viking Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VKTX)

Key Points

• TCW Group Inc. increased its stake in Viking Therapeutics by 21.7%, now owning 75,054 shares valued at approximately $1.8 million.
• Insiders sold 35,421 shares of Viking Therapeutics stock recently, equivalent to a value of nearly $984,405, with CEO Brian Lian reducing his ownership by 1.11%.
• Viking Therapeutics stock experienced a decline of 0.9% in trading, with shares closing at $32.91 despite analysts predicting an average price target of $86.92.

TCW Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Viking Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VKTX - Free Report) by 21.7% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 75,054 shares of the biotechnology company's stock after buying an additional 13,403 shares during the period. TCW Group Inc. owned approximately 0.07% of Viking Therapeutics worth $1,813,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the business. FMR LLC lifted its holdings in Viking Therapeutics by 0.6% in the fourth quarter. FMR LLC now owns 16,715,438 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $672,629,000 after buying an additional 96,008 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Viking Therapeutics by 0.9% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,880,713 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $75,704,000 after purchasing an additional 17,046 shares in the last quarter. Braidwell LP increased its stake in Viking Therapeutics by 27.9% in the fourth quarter. Braidwell LP now owns 1,479,666 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $59,542,000 after purchasing an additional 322,689 shares in the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. increased its stake in Viking Therapeutics by 228.5% in the fourth quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 1,479,596 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $59,540,000 after purchasing an additional 1,029,125 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA increased its stake in Viking Therapeutics by 446.7% in the fourth quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 1,357,241 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $54,615,000 after purchasing an additional 1,108,972 shares in the last quarter. 76.03% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity at Viking Therapeutics

In other news, CEO Brian Lian sold 26,889 shares of Viking Therapeutics 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 completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 2,388,014 shares of the company's stock, valued at $66,386,789.20. This trade represents a 1.11% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CFO Greg Zante sold 4,266 shares of Viking Therapeutics stock in a transaction dated 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 directly 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. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 35,421 shares of company stock valued at $984,405. Corporate insiders own 4.10% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

VKTX has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Cantor Fitzgerald raised shares of Viking Therapeutics to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 29th. HC Wainwright reaffirmed a "buy" rating and issued a $102.00 target price on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a research note on Wednesday, June 25th. Citigroup upped their target price on shares of Viking Therapeutics from $31.00 to $38.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 24th. Truist Financial reissued 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. Finally, Raymond James Financial dropped 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 report on Thursday, July 24th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating, ten have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $86.92.

Viking Therapeutics Stock Performance

Viking Therapeutics stock traded up $0.09 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $32.66. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,990,636 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,090,721. The company has a market capitalization of $3.67 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -21.37 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 business's 50 day simple moving average is $28.95 and its 200 day simple moving average is $28.57.

Viking Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VKTX - Get Free Report) last released 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). The business's revenue for the quarter was up NaN% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company earned ($0.20) EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Viking Therapeutics, Inc. will post -1.56 EPS for the current year.

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.