Vanguard Group Inc. Lowers Holdings 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. reduced its stake in Viking Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VKTX - Free Report) by 0.1% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. 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.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Parallel Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Viking Therapeutics by 64.8% during the first 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 in the last quarter. NBC Securities Inc. boosted its stake in Viking Therapeutics by 222,100.0% during the first quarter. NBC Securities Inc. now owns 2,222 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $53,000 after buying an additional 2,221 shares during the last quarter. JNBA Financial Advisors purchased a new position in Viking Therapeutics during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $56,000. Future Financial Wealth Managment LLC grew its holdings in Viking Therapeutics by 1,242.9% during the 1st quarter. Future Financial Wealth Managment LLC now owns 2,350 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $57,000 after buying an additional 2,175 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Kapitalo Investimentos Ltda bought a new stake in Viking Therapeutics in the 4th quarter worth approximately $63,000. Institutional investors own 76.03% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity at Viking Therapeutics

In other Viking Therapeutics news, CFO Greg Zante sold 4,266 shares of the company's stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the chief financial officer owned 168,660 shares of the company's stock, valued at $4,682,001.60. This represents a 2.47% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Brian Lian sold 26,889 shares of Viking Therapeutics stock in a transaction on Thursday, July 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $27.80, for a total value of $747,514.20. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 2,388,014 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $66,386,789.20. This trade represents a 1.11% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 35,421 shares of company stock worth $984,405 in the last quarter. 4.10% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have recently commented on the company. HC Wainwright reiterated a "buy" rating and set a $102.00 target price on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a research report on Tuesday. Citigroup upped their price target 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 reiterated 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. Raymond James Financial reduced their target price 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. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald upgraded shares of Viking Therapeutics to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 29th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have assigned a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Buy" and a consensus target price of $86.92.

Viking Therapeutics Stock Up 1.3%

NASDAQ:VKTX traded up $0.34 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $26.00. 10,551,665 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 8,757,632. Viking Therapeutics, Inc. has a 52 week low of $18.92 and a 52 week high of $81.73. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.92 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -16.99 and a beta of 0.67. The firm's 50 day moving average is $31.17 and its two-hundred day moving average is $28.64.

Viking Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VKTX - Get Free Report) last announced its 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). The business's revenue for the quarter was up NaN% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted ($0.20) earnings per share. As a group, research analysts predict that Viking Therapeutics, Inc. will post -1.56 EPS for the current year.

Viking Therapeutics 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.