Viking Therapeutics, Inc. $VKTX Shares Purchased by LPL Financial LLC

Key Points

• LPL Financial LLC increased its stake in Viking Therapeutics by 22.7% during Q1, now owning approximately $2.87 million in shares.
• Viking Therapeutics reported a loss of ($0.58) EPS for the most recent quarter, missing expectations by ($0.14).
• Analysts have mixed ratings on the stock, with ten buy ratings, two strong buy ratings, and only one sell rating, setting a consensus target price of $86.92.

LPL Financial LLC grew its stake in Viking Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VKTX - Free Report) by 22.7% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 118,613 shares of the biotechnology company's stock after purchasing an additional 21,911 shares during the quarter. LPL Financial LLC owned approximately 0.11% of Viking Therapeutics worth $2,865,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Parallel Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Viking Therapeutics by 64.8% in the 1st 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. Kapitalo Investimentos Ltda acquired a new stake in shares of Viking Therapeutics in the 4th quarter valued at about $63,000. NewEdge Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Viking Therapeutics by 108.5% in the 4th quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 2,068 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $83,000 after purchasing an additional 1,076 shares in the last quarter. NBC Securities Inc. raised its stake in shares of Viking Therapeutics by 222,100.0% in the 1st quarter. NBC Securities Inc. now owns 2,222 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $53,000 after purchasing an additional 2,221 shares in the last quarter. Finally, JNBA Financial Advisors acquired a new stake in shares of Viking Therapeutics in the 1st quarter valued at about $56,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.03% of the company's stock.

Viking Therapeutics Price Performance

VKTX stock opened at $40.03 on Monday. Viking Therapeutics, Inc. has a 12 month low of $18.92 and a 12 month high of $81.73. The firm has a market cap of $4.50 billion, a PE ratio of -26.16 and a beta of 0.67. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $31.10 and a 200 day simple moving average of $28.74.

Viking Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VKTX - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, July 23rd. The biotechnology company reported ($0.58) EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.44) by ($0.14). During the same quarter last year, the business earned ($0.20) EPS. The firm's quarterly revenue was up NaN% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Viking Therapeutics, Inc. will post -1.56 earnings per share for the current year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

VKTX has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Truist Financial reaffirmed 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. HC Wainwright reaffirmed a "buy" rating and set a $102.00 price objective on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a research report on Wednesday, June 25th. Citigroup boosted their price objective 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. Cantor Fitzgerald raised shares of Viking Therapeutics to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 29th. Finally, Raymond James Financial lowered their price objective on shares of Viking Therapeutics from $125.00 to $122.00 and set a "strong-buy" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, July 24th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating, ten have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $86.92.

Insider Activity at Viking Therapeutics

In related news, COO Marianna Mancini sold 4,266 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, July 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $27.77, for a total value of $118,466.82. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer owned 377,535 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,484,146.95. This represents a 1.12% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CFO Greg Zante sold 4,266 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 sale, the chief financial officer 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. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 35,421 shares of company stock worth $984,405. 4.10% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.

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