Viking Therapeutics, Inc. $VKTX Shares Newly Acquired by Bank of America Corp DE

Key Points

• Bank of America acquired 383,775 Viking Therapeutics shares worth approximately $15 million in the second quarter, giving it a 0.33% stake. Institutional investors and hedge funds collectively own 76.03% of VKTX.
• Viking raised $500 million through a stock and convertible-notes offering to fund clinical development and operations, but the discounted equity issuance and potential future dilution pressured the shares.
• Investor interest remains centered on VK2735 and its obesity-drug potential. Analysts maintain a generally constructive “Moderate Buy” consensus, though clinical execution, regulatory approval and competition from larger drugmakers remain significant risks.

Bank of America Corp DE acquired a new position in shares of Viking Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VKTX - Free Report) during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 383,775 shares of the biotechnology company's stock, valued at approximately $14,971,000. Bank of America Corp DE owned about 0.33% of Viking Therapeutics at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Timothy G. Youngquist 2020 Irrevocable Trust boosted its holdings in Viking Therapeutics by 141.6% in the 2nd quarter. Timothy G. Youngquist 2020 Irrevocable Trust now owns 271,849 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $10,605,000 after purchasing an additional 159,349 shares during the period. Cornerstone Capital Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Viking Therapeutics during the 2nd quarter worth $3,334,000. BlackRock Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Viking Therapeutics during the 2nd quarter worth $241,458,000. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its holdings in shares of Viking Therapeutics by 18.0% during the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 542,516 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $17,653,000 after acquiring an additional 82,941 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Jupiter Topco LLC acquired a new position in shares of Viking Therapeutics in the second quarter valued at approximately $1,783,000. 76.03% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Key Viking Therapeutics News

Here are the key news stories impacting Viking Therapeutics this week:

• Positive Sentiment: VK2735 data supports the obesity-drug opportunity. Recent updates indicate that weight loss from Viking’s candidate may persist after treatment, an important potential differentiator as the company advances its weight-loss programs into late-stage trials. Viking Therapeutics Soared After Its Latest GLP-1 Data
• Positive Sentiment: Additional funding improves financial flexibility. Viking priced an upsized $500 million financing consisting of 7.86 million common shares sold at $35 each and $225 million of 2.00% convertible senior notes due 2032. The proceeds should help fund clinical development and corporate operations without an immediate need for another raise. Viking Therapeutics Prices Upsized $500 Million Offering
• Neutral Sentiment: Analyst sentiment remains generally constructive but mixed. Leerink Partners maintained a Buy rating, while Goldman Sachs maintained a Hold rating. The broader analyst consensus is reported as Moderate Buy, suggesting optimism about Viking’s pipeline but continued valuation and execution concerns. Leerink Partners Sticks to Their Buy Rating
• Neutral Sentiment: Trading activity has been unusually high. Heavy share volume and a sharp increase in call-option activity show elevated investor interest, but these indicators reflect positioning and volatility rather than a clear change in Viking’s fundamentals. Viking Therapeutics Sees Strong Trading Volume
• Negative Sentiment: The equity offering creates dilution and was priced at a substantial discount. The common stock was issued at $35, below the prior market price, and the convertible notes could create additional dilution if converted. The upsized raise therefore pressured the shares despite the company’s promising drug data. Why Is Viking Therapeutics Stock Trading Down Thursday?
• Negative Sentiment: Investors remain focused on execution risk. Viking is still a clinical-stage biotechnology company with no established commercial revenue, meaning its valuation depends heavily on successful trials, regulatory approval and eventual competition with Eli Lilly and Novo Nordisk.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

VKTX has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Zacks Research raised shares of Viking Therapeutics from a "strong sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 18th. Truist Financial increased their target price on Viking Therapeutics from $83.00 to $87.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price target on shares of Viking Therapeutics from $75.00 to $65.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, August 11th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Viking Therapeutics from a "strong sell" rating to a "sell" rating in a research note on Saturday. Finally, Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a "sell (d-)" rating on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a research report on Friday, July 17th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have assigned a Buy rating, two have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $99.67.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Brian Lian sold 148,517 shares of Viking Therapeutics stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $33.32, for a total transaction of $4,948,586.44. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 2,572,441 shares in the company, valued at $85,713,734.12. The trade was a 5.46% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Also, COO Marianna Mancini sold 18,217 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $33.47, for a total transaction of $609,722.99. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer owned 422,760 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $14,149,777.20. The trade was a 4.13% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Insiders sold a total of 187,951 shares of company stock valued at $6,268,442 over the last three months. Corporate insiders own 5.30% of the company's stock.

Viking Therapeutics Stock Down 3.2%

Shares of VKTX stock opened at $35.56 on Friday. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $33.83 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $33.58. Viking Therapeutics, Inc. has a 12-month low of $24.88 and a 12-month high of $43.15. The firm has a market cap of $4.15 billion, a P/E ratio of -7.63 and a beta of 0.69.

Viking Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VKTX - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 29th. The biotechnology company reported ($1.10) earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of ($1.21) by $0.11. The company's revenue was up .0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned ($0.58) earnings per share. As a group, research analysts expect that Viking Therapeutics, Inc. will post -4.47 EPS for the current fiscal year.

About Viking Therapeutics

Viking Therapeutics, Inc is a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company focused on developing therapies for metabolic and endocrine disorders. The company's research programs target conditions including obesity, nonalcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH), metabolic dysfunction-associated steatohepatitis (MASH), dyslipidemia and other disorders involving hormone regulation and metabolism.

Viking's lead program is VK2735, an investigational dual agonist of the glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1) and glucose-dependent insulinotropic polypeptide (GIP) receptors being developed in injectable and oral formulations for obesity and related metabolic conditions.

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