Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. Decreases Holdings in Viking Therapeutics, Inc. $VKTX

Key Points

• Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. reduced its holdings in Viking Therapeutics by 10.1%, owning approximately 103,546 shares valued at $2.74 million, following the sale of 11,643 shares.
• Several hedge funds increased their stakes in Viking Therapeutics, with Raymond James Financial raising its position by 4.7% and Connor Clark & Lunn by 59.2% during the first quarter.
• Viking Therapeutics reported a loss of ($0.58) earnings per share for the last quarter, falling short of analysts' expectations, and currently has an average rating of "Buy" with a consensus target price of $87.50.

Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. lessened its holdings in Viking Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VKTX - Free Report) by 10.1% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 103,546 shares of the biotechnology company's stock after selling 11,643 shares during the quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. owned 0.09% of Viking Therapeutics worth $2,744,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of VKTX. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. raised its stake in Viking Therapeutics by 121.5% in the first quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. now owns 29,721 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $718,000 after purchasing an additional 16,302 shares in the last quarter. Wealth Management Associates Inc. acquired a new position in Viking Therapeutics in the first quarter valued at about $241,000. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its stake in Viking Therapeutics by 9,209.9% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 24,392 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $589,000 after purchasing an additional 24,130 shares in the last quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. acquired a new position in Viking Therapeutics in the fourth quarter valued at about $429,000. Finally, Wesbanco Bank Inc. raised its stake in Viking Therapeutics by 118.5% in the second quarter. Wesbanco Bank Inc. now owns 52,000 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $1,378,000 after purchasing an additional 28,200 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 76.03% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity at Viking Therapeutics

In related news, CEO Brian Lian sold 26,889 shares of the 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 completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 2,388,014 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $66,386,789.20. This represents a 1.11% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, COO Marianna Mancini sold 4,266 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 directly owned 377,535 shares of the company's stock, valued at $10,484,146.95. The trade was a 1.12% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 35,421 shares of company stock valued at $984,405. 4.10% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Viking Therapeutics Trading Down 2.5%

Shares of VKTX traded down $0.64 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $25.40. The stock had a trading volume of 7,269,115 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,583,704. Viking Therapeutics, Inc. has a 12 month low of $18.92 and a 12 month high of $81.73. The firm 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 capitalization of $2.86 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -16.60 and a beta of 0.73.

Viking Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VKTX - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, July 23rd. The biotechnology company reported ($0.58) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of ($0.44) by ($0.14). During the same period in the prior year, the company posted ($0.20) earnings per share. The firm's quarterly revenue was up NaN% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts forecast that Viking Therapeutics, Inc. will post -1.56 EPS for the current year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have commented on VKTX. HC Wainwright reissued a "buy" rating and set a $102.00 target price on shares of Viking Therapeutics in a research note on Tuesday, August 19th. Citigroup boosted their target price on Viking Therapeutics from $31.00 to $38.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 24th. Finally, Raymond James Financial lowered their target price on Viking Therapeutics from $125.00 to $122.00 and set a "strong-buy" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, July 24th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have given a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Buy" and a consensus price target of $87.50.

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.