Vanguard Group Inc. Decreases Stake in Viking Therapeutics, Inc. $VKTX

Key Points

• Vanguard Group Inc. has reduced its stake in Viking Therapeutics by 0.1%, selling 8,184 shares, and currently owns 10,164,257 shares valued at approximately $245 million.
• Viking Therapeutics reported a quarterly loss of ($0.58) earnings per share, missing estimates and showing a decrease from the previous year's earnings of ($0.20).
• The stock has experienced significant price fluctuations with a 52-week low of $18.92 and a high of $81.73, indicating volatility in investor sentiment.

Vanguard Group Inc. cut its stake in shares of Viking Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VKTX - Free Report) by 0.1% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 10,164,257 shares of the biotechnology company's stock after selling 8,184 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. owned approximately 9.05% of Viking Therapeutics worth $245,467,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. raised its stake in shares of Viking Therapeutics by 121.5% during the first quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. now owns 29,721 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $718,000 after purchasing an additional 16,302 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its position in Viking Therapeutics by 9,209.9% during the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 24,392 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $589,000 after buying an additional 24,130 shares during the last quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. acquired a new stake in shares of Viking Therapeutics in the 4th quarter worth $429,000. Concurrent Investment Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Viking Therapeutics in the first quarter valued at about $220,000. Finally, Parallel Advisors LLC increased its position in Viking Therapeutics by 64.8% during 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 period. 76.03% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity at Viking Therapeutics

In related news, CFO Greg Zante sold 4,266 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, July 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $27.76, for a total transaction of $118,424.16. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 168,660 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,682,001.60. This represents a 2.47% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, 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 sale, 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 35,421 shares of company stock worth $984,405. 4.10% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Truist Financial reaffirmed a "buy" rating and set a $75.00 price target (down from $95.00) on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a research note on Monday, April 28th. Citigroup lifted their price target 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. Morgan Stanley decreased their price target on Viking Therapeutics from $105.00 to $102.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 24th. Cantor Fitzgerald raised Viking Therapeutics to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, April 29th. Finally, HC Wainwright reissued a "buy" rating and issued a $102.00 target price on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a report on Tuesday. 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 company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and a consensus target price of $86.92.

Viking Therapeutics Trading Down 0.1%

Shares of NASDAQ:VKTX traded down $0.03 on Thursday, hitting $25.66. The company had a trading volume of 8,976,468 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,695,718. The company has a market cap of $2.89 billion, a PE ratio of -16.77 and a beta of 0.67. Viking Therapeutics, Inc. has a 52-week low of $18.92 and a 52-week high of $81.73. The business has a 50 day moving average of $31.23 and a 200 day moving average of $28.75.

Viking Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VKTX - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 23rd. The biotechnology company reported ($0.58) EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of ($0.44) by ($0.14). During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted ($0.20) earnings per share. The company's quarterly revenue was up NaN% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts predict 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.