Viking Therapeutics, Inc. $VKTX Shares Sold by Voya Investment Management LLC

Key Points

• Voya Investment Management LLC reduced its position in Viking Therapeutics by 6.1%, now holding approximately 366,379 shares valued at about $8.8 million.
• In the 1st quarter, multiple institutional investors significantly increased their stakes in Viking Therapeutics, with NBC Securities Inc. lifting its holdings by an astonishing 222,100.0%.
• Viking Therapeutics reported a loss of $0.58 EPS in its most recent earnings, missing analysts' expectations of a loss of $0.44 EPS.

Voya Investment Management LLC lessened its stake in shares of Viking Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VKTX - Free Report) by 6.1% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 366,379 shares of the biotechnology company's stock after selling 23,761 shares during the quarter. Voya Investment Management LLC owned about 0.33% of Viking Therapeutics worth $8,848,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Quarry LP lifted its stake in shares of Viking Therapeutics by 1,621.4% during the 1st quarter. Quarry LP now owns 1,205 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 1,135 shares during the period. Parallel Advisors LLC lifted its stake 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 worth $33,000 after purchasing an additional 536 shares during the period. NBC Securities Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Viking Therapeutics by 222,100.0% during the 1st quarter. NBC Securities Inc. now owns 2,222 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $53,000 after purchasing an additional 2,221 shares during the period. Flaharty Asset Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Viking Therapeutics during the 1st quarter worth $56,000. Finally, JNBA Financial Advisors purchased a new position in shares of Viking Therapeutics during the 1st quarter worth $56,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.03% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts recently weighed in on VKTX shares. Citigroup increased their target price on Viking Therapeutics from $31.00 to $38.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 24th. HC Wainwright reaffirmed a "buy" rating and issued a $102.00 target price on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a research report on Tuesday, August 19th. Finally, Raymond James Financial cut their target price on 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 research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have issued a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Buy" and an average target price of $87.50.

Viking Therapeutics Stock Down 2.5%

Shares of Viking Therapeutics stock traded down $0.64 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $25.40. 7,269,115 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 5,583,704. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $30.45 and a 200-day simple moving average of $28.09. The company has a market cap of $2.86 billion, a PE ratio of -16.60 and a beta of 0.73. Viking Therapeutics, Inc. has a twelve month low of $18.92 and a twelve month high of $81.73.

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 for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.44) by ($0.14). The firm's quarterly revenue was up NaN% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted ($0.20) earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Viking Therapeutics, Inc. will post -1.56 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Viking Therapeutics

In other Viking Therapeutics news, COO Marianna Mancini sold 4,266 shares of Viking Therapeutics stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, July 3rd. The stock was 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 directly owned 377,535 shares in the company, valued at $10,484,146.95. The trade was a 1.12% decrease in their ownership of the stock. 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 that occurred on Thursday, July 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $27.76, for a total value 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. The trade was a 2.47% 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 over the last ninety days. Company insiders own 4.10% of the company's stock.

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.